RICHARD DE CHARMS       C. TH. ODHNER       1902

NEW CHURCH LIFE.

Vol. XXII.      JANUARY, 1902.          No. 1.
     A SKETCH OF HIS LIFE AND WORK.     

     AN apostolic father, a great and profound theologian, a leader of thought, and a martyr to be truth, such was Richard de Charms to the New Church of the first half of the Nineteenth Century. He was the first systematic exponent of the Divine authority of the Writings and the distinctiveness of the New Church, and, in fighting for these principles, he became the founder of that movement which, many years later, assumed organic form as the Academy of the New Church. In the midst of unceasing and universal opposition and persecution he fearlessly proclaimed these most unpopular principles of New Church truth, together with all the issues involved in them: the recognition of the vastated state of the Christian world, the necessity of a distinct priesthood for the New Church in an orderly, trinal form, and of marriage and education within the Church. He was the bulwark of spiritual freedom in the New Church at a time when that freedom was most seriously threatened. He was the first philosophical historian of the New Church; and he labored not only for sound minds, but performed an important service in providing for sound minds by his earnest championship for the introduction of Homeopathy among the members of the New Church.

     For these and many other services the New Church owes to Mr. de Charms a debt of gratitude which has never yet been fully realized or expressed. He left the earthly scene of his labors unnoticed. No eulogies were delivered at his grave; no memorial resolutions were passed by the bodies of the Church. He was a reformer, a man in advance of his age, misunderstood, intensely disliked by the great majority of his brethren in the Church. The story of his life and work is told for the first time in these pages.

     HIS EARLY LIFE.

     Richard de Charms was born in Philadelphia, on October 17th, 1796. On his father's side he descended from a family of Huguenots, who, on the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, in 1685, fled to London from Caen, in Normandy. A part of the family subsequently returned to France, but the immediate ancestors of Richard de Charms remained in England, where for several generations they were surgeons and doctors of medicine. From the mother's side the subject of our sketch came of Welsh-Irish stock, the Meades, an old family of physicians. The ancestral strains are clearly recognizable in his leading characteristics and tendencies: the intellectuality, vivacity and versatility of Huguenot sires; the undying tenacity, not to say obstinacy, of the Welsh blood; the pugnacity and wit of the Irish, and the strong penchant for medical studies, derived from both sides of the house.

     His father, Dr. William de Charms, graduated in London as a surgeon and pharmacist, but came to America with his wife and three young children in 1793 Settling in Philadelphia, he soon rose to eminence as a skillful obstetrician and general practitioner. He was one of the few physicians who remained in this city during the great visitation of yellow fever in 1795 and 1796 and was considered very skillful in his treatment of the dreaded plague, but he himself succumbed to it, in the summer of 1796, while in attendance at the sickbed of Mr. Robert Parrish, a well-known citizen.

     His sudden death left his widow and little children without any means of support, and it was under such desolate conditions that Richard de Charms was born, six weeks after his father's death. His mother, a woman of great force and nobility of character, too proud to depend upon charity from her husband's friends, soon afterwards opened a large boarding house for the maintenance of her young family. The mother now, for the better care of her infant, put little Richard out to be nursed by a Quaker "mammy nurse," near Darby, and here our subject spent the first few years of his life.

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     Very early, when yet a little boy in petticoats, he "began his ministerial career," frequently preaching to other little tots of the neighborhood, and even, at harvest times, going out into the fields, where, as he tells us, "the stalks were standing and bowing their heavy heads as in prayer,--he warning them that the time, when they were to be cut down, was nigh at hand, and exhorting them to repentance for the remission of their sins." (The Newchurchman, vol. iii., p. 160.)

     His elder brother, William, when a youth, returned to London, where he entered the East India service. His two sisters were carefully educated by the mother and became teachers of some prominence, in Philadelphia. Through one of them the mother and little Richard, when about seven years old, found a temporary home in Kentucky, where they resided in Lexington, and in Frankfort, until the year 1810, when they returned to Philadelphia. (New Church Life, 1882. p. 5.)

     His mother, struggling ninth adversity and poverty, was unable to give him a thorough education. When but fourteen years of age, he was put into a printing office, where he soon acquired the ability to support both himself and his mother, and also gained a great fund of general information which became of good service in his subsequent scholastic studies.

     By too close application to his press and his books in the years of his boyhood, he impaired his health while yet a youth, and sowed the germs of a disease which became a life-long torture. According to his own confession, he "became a bad boy, as years rolled on and hereditary evils developed themselves; and, as he verged into manhood, he esteemed himself most unworthy of entering so holy an office as the sacred ministry."

     We continue our story by quoting from a fragmentary sketch of his early life, written by himself. "In my eighteenth or nineteenth year, being variously affected by poverty and sickness, and so having my fellow ground thoroughly plowed up and harrowed, I was led most providentially to a connection with the Sunday School of St. Paul's (Episcopal) Church of this city, where I received my first and strongest religious impressions. While a teacher in that school, I was mainly instrumental, by a fervid speech which I made on a certain occasion, in bringing about the formation of the present Sunday School Union of this city, and I confidently uttered in that speech a most remarkable prediction of the great extension and vast importance of this Union in its influence on the whole Christian community of this country, which has been fulfilled to the veriest letter by its present actual great existence, most prosperous condition, immense operations, and widespread efficiency.

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In fact, so powerful was the impression of that speech upon the society of Sunday school teachers to whom it was delivered, that they instantly passed a vote of thanks to me for it; at their next meeting elected me their vice-president; and soon after sent their noble and honored president, Mr. Bankson, to me, with the solicitation of the Dorcas Society of St. Paul's Church that I become their beneficiary in receiving an education for the Episcopal ministry."

     "But my steps were turned away from this opening gate to the clerical calling, in my being led, about the same time, to a knowledge of the Heavenly Doctrines of the New Jerusalem by my old and most valued friend, the now long since deceased Mrs. Earl."*
     * This lady had received a fund of $20,000 from the wife of the last Proprietor of Pennsylvania, John Penn. In her will she left this sum in the care of the "Southwark" or Philadelphia Second Society for the expressed purpose of educating orphans in the Doctrines of the New Church, but the fund "was shamefully lost to the Church by the culpable negligence of the Society."

     Being strongly imbued with the prevailing prejudices against the New Church, young Richard did not, at first, take kindly to the new religion. Says he, "Well does the writer of this recollect when, conversing with some young associates late in the evening of an autumn or winter's day of 1816, he first heard of the Swedenborgians and their queer notions about a man's following the same occupation in the other world that he pursues in this, and that he himself then joined in the jest and laugh against them. It is well known that Mr. Raguet [the secretary of the New Church Society in Philadelphia] was about that time ridiculed for bowing to one of the apostles while walking in the streets in day time. It was currently reported, even in religious and highly intelligent circles, that he and his associates were in the habit of setting extra plates for their departed relatives and friends, and he and they were believed to hold many other notions equally absurd and untrue." (Newchurchman, vol. ii, p. 279.)

     "Well do I remember bow I kicked against the pullings of Mrs. Earl, when she took me to what was then the school-room of Mr. Carll to listen to the first New-church sermon I ever heard,--delivered by the late Mr. Samuel Woodworth, of New York."

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[The genial author of "The Old Oaken Bucket."] "My mind, besides being too crude in any sort of interior development, was too much occupied by what seemed to me the sinister look of the speaker, and was too much terrified by the secret cabal and dark conspiritous air of the up-alley and dimly lighted school-room, to have either comprehended or attended to what I can now imagine were the lucid spiritual expositions of the good natured, chubby faced preacher, and quondam editor of the 'Halcyon Luminary.' But I do remember how strongly and adversely my hot religious enthusiasm reacted on the more than maternal solicitude of my kind friend and patroness to draw me to her heavenly faith, and how intemperately I argued with her, all the way home, for the efficacy of a death-bed repentance from the case of the thief crucified with the Lord on the cross." (Newchurchman, vol. iii, p. 162.)

     This hostile attitude appears to have given way shortly for a genuine conviction of the truth, for we find Richard de Charms, two years later, pursuing his studies for the ministry of the New Church under the direction of the Hen. Jonathan Condy, a lawyer of great eminence and at that time the chief pillar of the New Church in Philadelphia and in the whole country. Mr. de Charms describes this early and shining light in the Church as "a classical scholar, an oriental linguist, and a theologian of the highest order. He had a critical knowledge of the Hebrew, as well as of the Greek and Latin languages,--was well versed in general Theology, and profoundly read in the theological Writings of Swedenborg. And, in our humble opinion, a more powerful, brilliant, or commanding intellect never served or honored the visible body of our Church in this country, or perhaps in any other." (Newchurchman Extra, p. 110.)

     It may seem peculiar that the young novitiate did not pursue his studies under the guidance of some one of the ministers of the Church rather than under a layman, but it must be remembered that there were but very few New Church ministers in this country at that time, and that none of these was distinguished for profound learning in the Doctrines. Mr. Condy was unquestionably and vastly their intellectual and theological superior. He, more than any one else, moulded the plastic mind of his young student into that peculiar form of thought which ever afterwards distinguished Richard de Charms.

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     While thus pursuing his studies, Richard de Charms, in December, 1819, was appointed one of three lay-readers (all young students) who were to conduct the worship of the Church in Philadelphia during the temporary absence of the regular minister, the Rev. M. M. Carll, whose ill-health had necessitated a prolonged visit to Europe.

     After a year or more of preparatory training under Mr. Condy, Richard de Charms, by the financial aid of his brother in London, was enabled to enter Yale College, where for four years he pursued classical studies, graduating in the year 1826,. While at college, his former scruples of conscience, as to his personal unworthiness, caused him to give up the idea of entering the ministry of the New Church, and he temporarily turned his attention to the study of medicine. It was only at the urgent solicitation of his intimate friends that he, in 1827, again took up his theological studies. These he pursued, at first, in Boston, where he assisted in the establishment of the New Jerusalem Magazine, he himself printing the first three numbers of that journal. Some disagreement with the authorities in the Boston Society soon caused him to give up his connection with the Magazine, and to accept an invitation to Baltimore, to act as assistant to the aged Mr. Hargrove, while still pursuing his studies in Theology.

     This arrangement, however, soon proved unsatisfactory. Mr. Hargrove was to preach the regular sermons to the older members on Sunday mornings, while Mr. de Charms waste read "moral lectures" to the young, in the evenings. The regular preacher being old and decrepit, it soon came to pass that the evening services were better attended than those of the morning. Hence followed woes and heart burnings. The minister felt it his duty to speak, in one of his sermons, rather disparagingly of moral lectures in a New Church pulpit. The assistant, "stung to the quick," felt impelled to try his hand at a professed sermon, just to let his audience see that he could if he would. The effort proved so great a success that the young sermonizer was requested to deliver his discourse again to the Society in Philadelphia, which expressed its appreciation by having it printed. It is entitled "A Discourse on the paramount Importance of Spiritual Things, by a Novitiate of the New Jerusalem."

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     Now, it is a well-established fact, in ecclesiastical circles, that the maiden-efforts of theological students are apt to die early, from an abnormal development of brain, but the one now in question proved an exception from the rule, for a second edition was Printed by Mr. Hodson, in London, just thirty years afterwards, under the new and highly inviting title, "A Theological Student's first Sermon, of the Guiding Light for such as are just coming up to the Gates of the Holy City."

     While still in Baltimore, Mr. de Charms attended the meeting of the General Convention of the New Church in America, which was held in that city on June 7th, 1827, and was then chosen as Secretary to that body. This early distinction of a budding genius, together with other irritating causes, rendered the relations between Mr. Hargrove and Mr. de Charms still more strained, and the latter, when called to Philadelphia early in the year 1828 to attend at the deathbed of his old friend and patroness, Mrs. Earl, gladly availed himself of the opportunity to bring his engagement in Baltimore to a close.

     He now received a regular license as a preacher of the Heavenly Doctrines, and accepted a call to minister to the little circle of receivers of the Doctrines residing at Bedford, Pa. This Society was one of the very earliest in America, and has exercised a marked influence upon the planting of the Church in Western Pennsylvania and Ohio. The Doctrines were introduced here as early as 1785 by Miss Hetty Barclay, a lady who has the grand distinction of having been the very first New Church woman known to history, in this country or in all the world. Through her first efforts the Doctrines were received by her own family, the Barclays, and by several other families, such as the Clines and the Espys, through whom the Church was first founded in Pittsburg, Pa., and Urbana, Ohio.

     To this little circle Mr. de Charms now ministered for about a year, at a salary of one hundred dollars. One of his reasons for going to Bedford was the hope that the waters of the celebrated mineral springs of that place would restore his health, which had been seriously impaired by excessive application to his studies while at college. But his health did not improve, and he now accepted the proposition of his brothel to visit the latter in London,-thinking that a voyage across the Atlantic would be the best health-restorative.

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     Before leaving America, he attended the session of the General Convention, held in Philadelphia on June 3d to 5th, 1830. At this meeting he was again elected Secretary, was appointed to prepare an address to the New Church in England, and was put upon a committee to collect information regarding infant schools, from which we may judge that he had, even then, begun to evince his interest in the subject of distinctive New Church education.

     Richard de Charms remained in London for two years, supporting himself by working as a compositor in the printing office of Mr. James S. Hodson (the well-known New Church publisher), in the meantime studying the Theology of the New Church under the most kind and valued direction of the Rev. Samuel Noble. As a professed theological student Mr. de Charms, at that time, occupied a unique position in the New Church, refusing to enter upon the exercise of the sacred calling except after prolonged and thorough preparation. He had been offered ordination into the ministry, while yet in America, but had declined, holding to the opinion that the line of succession in the New Church ministry depended upon ordinations transmitted from the original English line. Mr. Noble, however, brought him to the recognition of the validity of American ordinations, the value of this rite depending not upon the personal or historical elements, but rather on considerations of use and indications of the Divine Providence.

     While in England, Mr. de Charms tells us that he had to encounter and endure many natural hardships and severe spiritual trials, the nature of which have not been recorded. There can be no doubt, however, that his contact with the sphere of the New Church in Great Britain, and especially with such minds as Mr. Noble and Robert Hindmarsh, served to widen his own mind and theological views. We do not know how far he came into contact with Robert Hindmarsh, but it is quite clear that the theological and ecclesiastical tendencies of the latter made a deep impression upon him. Richard de Charms, indeed, occupies very much the same theological position in the New Church in America, as Robert Hindmarsh does in Great Britain.

     His sojourn in London was prolonged by a whole year, owing to the necessity of looking after a legacy left to him by a relative of his mother, the Rev. Thomas Russell, senior canon of the Cathedral Church of Hereford. But as soon as the settlement of this estate permitted, he returned most gladly to his native land, where future usefulness and a charming bride awaited him.

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Before leaving Bedford, he had become engaged to Miss Mary Graham, the daughter of Major George Graham, of Stoystown, Somerset county, Pa., one of the earliest pioneers of the New Church in the western part of this State.

     On returning to America, in the spring of 1832, Mr. de Charms settled first in Baltimore, having been elected pastor by the Baltimore Society, in succession to the aged Mr. Hargrove, who now had retired from active ministry. A residence of six months in Baltimore made it clear that the Society there would not be able to support a married pastor, and as Mr. de Charms did not care to prolong his state of single blessedness (being now thirty-six years of age) he accepted an urgent call to the more promising pastorate of the New Church Society in Cincinnati.

               (To be Continued.)
ASCRIPTION 1902

ASCRIPTION       EVELYN E. PLUMMER       1902

     A HYMN.

The heavens are Thine, Thou King of kings,
Their glory shines from Thee alone:
Thy life goes forth in love, and brings
All heaven to worship at Thy Throne.

Of all the blessings Thou dost give
With lavish hands to crown my days,
Most precious is this gift: to live
With grateful heart Thy Name to praise.
--EVELYN E. PLUMMER.

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REGENERATION, FIRST INTERNAL THEN EXTERNAL 1902

REGENERATION, FIRST INTERNAL THEN EXTERNAL       Rev. W. F. PENDLETON       1902

     Cleanse ye first the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be made clean. (Matthew xxiii, 26.)

     It is a doctrine of the Church, that the internal man is first to be regenerated, and by means of this the external. It follows from this that the external man cannot be regenerated except by means of the internal; and that an internal must first be formed and prepared before the external can be renewed and brought into correspondence with the life of heaven. Since this is true, and since man is to co-operate with the Lord in the work of regeneration, it is of great importance to know what the internal man is, and what the external man is, for co-operation is by knowledge and understanding, and according to it; hence the Lord gives His Word and Doctrine from it, in order that man may have a rich, an infinite, store of knowledges, by which he may co-operate with the Lord in the life that leads to heaven.

     The first thing to know is, that by the internal man is meant the internal of the natural, and not the internal which is the spiritual man; it is the internal and external of the natural itself, for this is nothing but evil, and therefore must be regenerated before man can be saved. The internal or spiritual man is heaven, and is in heaven, and is not in evil, but is opened and formed as evils are removed from the natural.

     The internal of the natural is the will and thought when man is left to himself, that is, when he feels himself to be under no external restraint coming from the world; as is the case when he is at home, when those only are present with whom he does not fear the loss of reputation; or when he is entirely alone, and there is nothing to restrict the free exercise of his desires, or the free expansion of his thoughts. What a man wills then, and what he thinks then from his will, make the internal man; of which it is said that it is first to be regenerated, and by which the external to be regenerated.

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But the external of the natural is that which a man puts on,--the state which he assumes,--when he is in company with those who are in the world, or with those who are outside of his house, and before whom he is concerned for his reputation, and by whom he wishes to be regarded as intelligent and moral. This external is composed of the actions and speech which take place in public, and an exterior will and thought assumed as a covering of the interiors, in order to so direct and govern the speech and acts that he may accommodate himself to the world, presenting himself such as he wishes himself to appear to be, not what he really is. This external makes the apparent man, but forms no part of the real man, and is soon laid aside after the death of the body. With the sincere and the regenerate, this external is in general agreement with their internal; but not so with the unregenerate, especially with hypocrites. We are now prepared to see what is meant by the words of the Lord, Cleanse ye first the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be made clean.

     The cup and the plate are the natural mind, which is to be cleansed by regeneration. The cup contains wine, and the plate contains food or bread; wine is truth, which is of the understanding, and bread is good, which is of the will. The natural mind is therefore two-fold, namely, will and understanding, and this whether regarded interiorly or exteriorly; there is an interior will and understanding, and an exterior will and understanding, both in the natural; the interior understanding and will is that which is first to be cleansed, the inside of the cup and the plate.

     The natural mind in a state of order, is a vessel or containant of spiritual things, of truth and good which are spiritual; but before regeneration, it contains the opposite of good and truth,-evil and falsity from hell, which are spiritual impurities; these are in the inside of the cup and plate, the interiors of the natural mind, and the outside of the cup and plate may at the same time appear to be clean. The work of regeneration consists of cleansing this cup and plate, especially the inside of it.

     The words of the text in their natural sense were addressed to the Jews, in particular, to the sect called the Pharisees. The members of this sect lived externally as moral men, and observed strictly in their outward form the precepts of the law as given by Moses.

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Thus in Luke one of them is described, who stood in the temple praying, and said, O God, I give thanks unto Thee, that I am not as other men, rapacious, unjust, adulterers; or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. (Luke xviii, 11, 12.) And the Lord said of them, All their works they do to be seen of men....Ye tithe the mint, the anise, and the cummin, and ye leave the weightier things of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith.... Ye cleanse the outside of the cup and the plate, but the interiors are full of rapine and intemperance.... Ye make yourselves like whited sepulchres, which without indeed appear beautiful, but within they are full of the bones of the dead, and all uncleanness. (Matt. xxiii, 5, 23, 25, 27.)

     Such was the state of the Pharisees, externally moral and religious, but inwardly full of evils and falses; and such the state of all, of every church, in every age, who have received and applied the truths of religion merely to their external life, for the sake of the appearance in the world, to be seen of men, but who have not interiorly explored themselves and shunned the evils of their will and thought as sins against God. And such is the state of all, before regeneration, with indefinite variety according to hereditary evil from parents, and the evils acquired by actual life; hence the necessity and importance of the doctrine that the internal man must first be regenerated before man can be regenerated, that the evils of the interior will and thought must be seen and known and shunned before man is clean. Cleanse ye first the inside of the cup and plate, that the outside also may be made dealt.

     It is important to know three things in order that regeneration man properly begin in the internal of man: First, that there is an internal natural; second, that the internal natural is nothing but evil; third, to know and see the evils that are there, by self-examination in the light of the truth of the WORD. Regeneration actually begins when man sees the evils that are in him, and in the light of that seeing desists from them, imploring the Lord for help and power so to do.

     The appearance is that regeneration begins with the external, that is, with the external conduct, with the action and speech as they appear before men in the world; and such is the common opinion; such is the view held in the Old Church, the doctrines of which consist of appearances, which are believed to be truths, but which are fallacies and when confirmed become falsities.

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It is false to hold that regeneration begins with the external conduct, that man has begun to be born anew in a merely external moral or religious life; for, as we have seen, the life of the Pharisee is perfect in the external form, but he has not taken a single step in the path of regeneration; a man may live as an angel of light in the external form, and yet remain a devil of hell as to all that makes his essential life.

     Regeneration does not begin with an external moral life, and yet without an external moral life it can never begin; for the external moral life makes a plane within which regeneration does begin, and must begin, or it will never begin. A moral life does not begin it, but it begins in a moral life. It is important to see the distinction that is made here, for on this depends the understanding of the doctrine which we have under consideration. The distinction is made clear in the doctrine that is given us, which is as follows: If any one shuns evils from any other reason whatsoever, than because they are sins, he does not shun them, but only causes them not to appear before the world. (Doct. Life, n. 108.) He lives a moral life before men, but he has not shunned evil as sin against God; he has shunned it in the outward form, but not in the inward,--in the external, but not in the internal of his natural. For to shun evil before men is to shun it outwardly, or in the mere appearance, at the same time covering it up within, where it lies like a smouldering fire, ready to break out as occasion offers; but to shun evil before God is to shun it outwardly and inwardly at the same time. in the thought and will, as well as in the conduct and speech. For if a man regards evil as sin, he will not be satisfied with the reformation of the conduct, but will explore himself, especially when he is alone, in order to examine the thoughts and purposes of his will; and the evil that he finds there he shuns as sin against God, and the beginning of doing this is the beginning of regeneration; and afterward in his daily life, in shunning evil in his moral conduct, he will at the same time shun the purpose, the intention, the endeavor to it, and will thus be fulfilling the command, Cleanse ye first the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be made clean.

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     Before regeneration the external appears to be clean, because of the outwardly moral life a man lives; but in reality the external is not then clean, notwithstanding the appearance, for we see from the doctrine that is before us, confirmed by the words of the text, that the cleansing of the internal precedes the cleansing of the external, and that it is by the internal that the external is cleansed; the outwardly moral conduct is therefore not clean, because the external draws its very essence and life from the internal, and if the essence be not clean the form is not clean, though it may so appear to those who look only at the surface. Cleanse ye first the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be made clean.

     We have already noted the fact that there are two internals, the internal of the natural, which is also called the interior man, and the internal man, properly so speaking, which is also called the spiritual man. It is the interior of the natural in which man thinks while he is in the world, but the internal, which is the spiritual man, is that into which he comes after death, when he is introduced into heaven. All the angels of heaven are in this internal; it is on the plane of heaven in every man, for it is in every man by creation, but only opened with the regenerate; and while man is not actually and consciously introduced into his spiritual internal until after the death of the body, still it is opened in him while he is in the world, by regeneration, which is effected as the interior man in the natural is purified from evils and falses, by his desisting from willing and thinking them, and by shunning them because they are sins. The internal or spiritual man is then opened, and man comes into communication with the angels of heaven, and into conjunction with the Lord. This internal man is opened to him who shuns evils as sins, in whom the interior man is purified; but it is not opened, it is held shut, to him who does not shun evils as sins. The reason why the internal is not opened and cannot be opened,-is held shut,-to who does not shun evils as sins is because the interior, or internal natural, before man is purified from sins, is hell, and so long as hell is there heaven cannot be opened; for hell is the opposite of heaven, and two opposites cannot be together; but as soon as hell is removed, then heaven is opened, and is present. But the purification from evils in the interior man, and opening of the internal, or of heaven, takes place gradually, in the degree that man enters willingly and freely into the combats which are of temptation.

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     It was said that the interior natural before regeneration is hell; this opens to our view a truth of great moment, and of immense practical importance. It is concerning the actual presence of hell in the world, and with men while in the world, though that presence is hidden from the natural view by a veil, which hinders the vision of the natural man that veil is the exterior man, with his morality in speech and act, a moral appearance which most men put on while in the world, but an appearance only, with most men, which they lay aside after death, when the hell that is in them then appears to outward view, such as it had been interiorly before. When we realize that the interior natural with every man in the world is hell, that most men never rise out of it by regeneration, and that even those who do rise out of it do so very, very slowly, taking a whole lifetime, perhaps, to do it,--then we may realize the hell that is with us, in general and particular,--the hell in which we are,--the hell that is in every one of us. For who is ready to say that this hell is not in him? Let such a man be presented to view, and I fear you will see a self-deceived and a deceiving impostor! The man who is really rising out of the hell in his natural would be the last to proclaim it, the one who would be the most afraid of claiming any good to himself, because he knows that he is nothing but evil before God.

     The interior natural is the mainspring of thought, speech and action with man while in the world; and when it is understood that this interior natural is a confirmed hell in most men, it will be seen that men for the most part think and will from hell, though they may speak and act from heaven; and that each one of us is in this general sphere; and if so he that we are rising out of it,--if the work of regeneration has begun,--if there has been a beginning of purification from evils in the interior natural,--it is all of the Lord's Mercy, and no deserving of our own; for he who sees himself as the angels see him, he who sees the world such as it is in itself, from the bright light of Revelation shining down upon it will see no good in himself that he may claim as his own, and will cast out the thought that he has any such good, as something damned and damnable, coming from the abodes of the damned, who are ever trying in a thousand ways to lead him to themselves and make him one of themselves.

     Hell is present in the interior natural with all men, and it is a confirmed hell with most men.

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Men have surrendered themselves to it, have thrown themselves into it with open arms--though the opportunity to rise out of it is never taken away till the end of natural life. Some perhaps are fighting this hell in their interior natural, but it is there nevertheless, and must be fought and fought continually, with the standard never lowering, and an unyielding from, without compromise, until it is overcome and the victory gained. But the majority are not fighting, not resisting,--so we are informed by Revelation, and it is important to admit its truth,--vital after admitting it to see that it is true; for upon it depends the admission and the seeing of that other most essential truth, that each man individually, the man himself, is nothing but evil, and thus interiorly is a hell, and in order to be saved must rise out of it.

     The actual and confirmed presence of hell in the interiors of men, covered over by a veil of appearances, hiding it from a merely natural view, is like the concealed and smouldering fires of a volcano, apparently quiet and at rest, which may break forth at any time with rage and fury, destroying all before it; and this volcano would burst forth and destroy us,--wipe out the whole human race,--were it not that the Lord has effected His Second Coming, and by His Omnipotence so made present and actual, holds this hell in restraint, and permits no universal breaking out, in order that the New Church may be in freedom, so that it can be gradually established among men, and by it salvation be effected. But the Lord, from the infinite ends of His Providence, all of which look to the salvation of men and the formation of a heaven from the human race, does permit this hell which is in the interiors of men to break out here and there with individuals, or groups of individuals--in families, communities, states, or even nations--an insurrection, a conflagration, here and there. But a universal conflagration or insurrection, a universal open ultimate effort to destroy the human race, is not now possible, since the Last Judgment has been accomplished. Nations may go to war; communities may rise up in insurrection against constituted authority; families may break forth into open discord, members of which may do deeds of violence; individuals may do open evils and lead a continuous life of wickedness and crime; so-called religious bodies may go on in their nefarious work of hatching out enormous falsities to destroy the souls of men; the New Church itself may be invaded by heresies that would seem to imperil the very existence of the Church, or cause it to be transferred elsewhere; but the Lord Himself is present in the world, with His Divine Truth to teach, and His Divine Power to save, and He will preserve order, and restore order where it is broken; He will continually heal the breaches, that the Church may go on to flourish and prosper, and do its Divinely appointed work among men, in spite of the impotent fury of the hells and the malice and rage of their willing instruments on earth.

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     The presence of hell in the interiors of men, with its all-destroying endeavors and purpose, with its relentless effort against the Church to wipe it out, and thus to put an end to the human race, can be seen and known by him alone who is in illustration from the light of heaven, and he alone can co-operate with the Lord in guarding against it. And illustration comes by communication with heaven in the interiors; and communication with heaven takes place when the spiritual internal is opened; and the spiritual internal is opened as the interior natural is purified from evils; and this is purified from evils as man forms the habit of introspection and self-examination, when he is left to himself, as he is at home, removed from the restraints of the world, thus when he is in the full freedom of his thought, and the full liberty of the exercise of his desires, when no fear of the consequences to himself puts a limitation upon the operation of his thought, when the heart itself speaks to him, and he in his meditation forms the purposes and principles that are td govern in all the deeds of his daily life; and when in this free state he repents and desists from the evils that he sees, and goes forth on the morrow with the firm resolve to ultimate the principles so formed in all his words and works. A plane will thus be formed, and a reaction from that plane take place, that will open his internal spiritual, and bring about a communication with heaven, from which will flow down a light that will illuminate his natural, to be and to remain with him ever as the lamp and light of his life, protecting him from the infestations and snares of the devil, and guiding and leading him ever onward in the pathway of eternal life.

     Man is not alone in this work; others have walked and are walking in this path; the angels are with him; the Lord is present with His Infinite Power, the Power which He took unto Himself when He glorified His Human and in His glorified Human became the God of heaven and earth; and He will lead on to victory, will Himself be the Victor in and by the efforts of man, even though grievous conflicts ensue from the rising up and assaults of the hells; and though despair at times attend, yet hope will be inspired, and with hope the confidence of victory; yea, victory will be assured.--Amen.

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REASONS FOR NEW CHURCH EDUCATION 1902

REASONS FOR NEW CHURCH EDUCATION       Rev. F. E. WAELCHLI       1902

     IN the Doctrines of the Church we are taught that the Divine Providence of the Lord has for its end a heaven from the human race; wherefore it follows that every one is born for heaven, and that it is man's own fault if he does not attain thereunto. Man's life in this world should have heaven as its end, and should be a preparation for heaven. The work of preparation, during infancy, childhood and youth, must be done by parents; but after adult age is reached, by man himself. The birth of a child into the world, is the birth of a being, who, if the end of Providence be fulfilled, will become an angel of heaven. It is, therefore, the duty of the parents, to whose charge the Lord has committed the child, to bear in mind that the Lord has placed upon them the responsibility of so leading, guiding and instructing it, that the end of Providence may be fulfilled. This is a great responsibility, for the faithful performance of which every parent is answerable to the Lord. Parents are in the place of the Lord to the child, and continue in this relation to it until it reaches adult age, when the Lord Himself becomes the only Father, Master and Teacher. In the performance of their duties towards their children, parents must therefore seek to act in all things as the Lord's representatives and instruments, co-operating with Him in the work of salvation.

     That the first of all duties of parents is to so teach and lead their children that they may think of God, heaven and eternal life above all else, is clearly taught in the Word. In Deuteronomy: "Take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy son's sons."-(iv: 9).

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In the same: "Ye shall lay up these my words in your heart, and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes. And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest in the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up."-(xi:18, 19). In Mark: "Suffer the children to come unto Me, and forbid them not; for of such is the kingdom of God."-(x:14). And in the Proverbs: "Train up the child in the way he should go; and when he is old he will not depart from it."--(xxii: 6.)

     These admonitions of the Word all parents who desire the spiritual welfare of their children will heed. They will teach the Divine Law to their children, keeping it ever before them; they will suffer them to come to the Lord, and not forbid them by failing to lead them to look to Him; they will train up the child in the way he should go, so that when he is old he will serve the Lord and his neighbor. New Church parents, who are truly of the Church, will take to heart and carry out in life the words addressed to them at the baptism of their children, which words, as given in one of the books of worship in common use, are as follows:

     "To you is committed the care of this child, that he may be trained for heaven. As the means, therefore, to this end, cause him to be instructed in the Word, and in the Heavenly Doctrines of the New Jerusalem. Let him learn by heart the Lord's Prayer, the Ten Commandments, and the Faith of the New Church. Teach him to shun evils as sins against God, to renounce the lore of self and of the world, to love the Lord above all things and the neighbor as himself. In this way you will promote his happiness in this life, and his eternal welfare in the world to come."

     It is the duty of parents to provide not only natural but also spiritual food for their children. Before man can be regenerated he must receive spiritual food, by means of which he can be spiritually sustained and developed. This food consists of good affections implanted in the will, and of truths from the Word and from the doctrine of the Church implanted in the understanding. Parents are responsible for the provision of this food for their children. It is their duty to provide that affections of love to the Lord and of charity towards the neighbor, as also affections of love for the Church, for the country, and for all things good and true, be implanted: and also that there be instruction in the truths of the Word and of doctrine, so that there may be knowledge of the true God, of the quality of the life which leads to salvation, of the nature of the life after death, and of the glory of the New Jerusalem.

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Unless this food be provided, the child when it reaches adult life, will not be prepared to enter upon regeneration.

     The duty of providing the food which is of use to spiritual life involves the duty of guarding lest the child acquire those things which injure that life, thus of guarding against the awakening and development of evil affections and the reception of falsities; for in so far as these are received, the child is deprived of spiritual food. How great is the danger, if parents do not do all in their power to guard against the reception of the falsities of the Old Church by their children, is evident from the following teaching in the True Christian Religion:

     "It is a truth, that to implant in children and young people the idea of three divine persons, to which is unavoidably annexed the idea of three Gods, is to deprive them of all spiritual milk, and afterwards of all spiritual food, and lastly of all spiritual reason, and, with those who confirm themselves in this doctrine, to induce spiritual death."--(no. 23.)

     What is here said concerning the idea of three divine persons, applies also to all the doctrinal ideas of the Old Church, for all these derive their quality from the falsity concerning three divine persons. Hence may be evident how great is the error--and "error" is a mild word to use in this connection--of those New Church parents who permit their children to attend places of instruction where these falsities are taught, especially to attend the Sunday Schools of the Old Church. Let isolated New Church parents keep their children from such places, and instruct them at home in the genuine truths of the Word.

     We are taught in the doctrines of the Church that children who pass from this world into the other, are educated by the angels under the auspices of the Lord. Under His auspices, also, should the children who remain here be educated by those into whose care they are given. In the work of education there must be constantly present the desire to do the Lord's Will; and the Lord's Will is that children should be so led and taught that they may become men and women, who, during their life in this world, are useful in human society, laboring as servants of the Lord for the promotion of the welfare of their fellow-men; and after their life here, angels of heaven, serving the Lord to eternity in a life of else.

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     It has been shown that, in the education of their children, parents should have as their prime end preparation for heaven; also, that they should have as a mediate and secondary end preparation for a life of usefulness in this world. Few parents can do the work of education unaided by teachers, and therefore schools have been established, some for religious and others for secular instruction. The schools for religious instruction are principally the Sunday Schools, and those for secular instruction the public schools. Most New Church parents send their children to the Sunday School of the society with which they are connected for their religious instruction, and to the public schools for their secular instruction. Some of the isolated also conduct family Sunday Schools.

     Let us consider whether these institutions,--the New Church Sunday School and the public schools,--can satisfactorily serve as means for the proper education of New Church children.

     The usefulness of a New Church Sunday School, be it that of a society or of an isolated family, cannot be questioned; for it is the means of imparting to children something of a knowledge of the Word and of the doctrines of the Church; and whatever is done in this direction, even though it be little, is of great value. Nevertheless it must be admitted that it is not possible for the Sunday School to give the child all the religious instruction it is in need of. One hour per week is not sufficient for the instruction of the child in the things which pertain to eternal life; it is not sufficient for the imparting of that spiritual food which is necessary for regeneration and salvation. It therefore rests with parents to provide fuller instruction, and some of them, recognizing this need, seek to make good the deficiency by teaching their children during the week. All parents should do such teaching; they should do it, even though the very best provisions for religious instruction are made by Sunday and other schools. It is from the mouth of the parent that the child ought in the first place to receive the precepts of the Word; and what it thus receives makes a deep and abiding impression. But although considerable instruction may be given by the combined efforts of parents and the Sunday School, still in most cases even this is not sufficient.

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Besides, as a rule, the teaching is not systematic, and as a consequence things. It is as true of instruction in heavenly things as it is of instruction in worldly things, that there must be system and order in the teacher's work. It is being more and more recognized in the world that the work of teaching can be well done only by those who have been carefully trained to it, and that if it be attempted by others, the results will not be satisfactory. Recognizing this fact, parents desire to place their children under the care of well-trained and capable teachers, knowing that these can do for them what others, themselves included, could not do. The same principle applies to religious instruction, and this even in a higher degree; for if it be important that the education of children in worldly things should be in the hands of experienced educators, is it trot of still greater importance that their education in heavenly things, in the things which concern their salvation and eternal life, should receive the attention of such teachers as have made the religious instruction of children one of their chief objects of thought and study? When such is the case, the instruction from the Word and from doctrine will be orderly and systematic, adapted step by step to the development of the mind of the child; and, what is equally important, the teaching will be so done that there will be not only the imparting of the knowledge of spiritual truths, but also an awakening of love and affection for those truths and for the life which they teach,--thus love and affection for the things of Heaven and the Church. In order that such instruction may be given, New Church schools have been established, in which religious instruction is made the first and foremost thing in the course of studies: it is made the first and foremost, because the things which pertain to eternal life are of inestimably greater importance than those which pertain only to the life in this world. Should not parents, who have at heart the eternal welfare of their children, seek to have them educated in such a school?

     No religious instruction is given in the public schools, it being forbidden by law. While it may seem strange that the most important part of all education should thus be banished from the schools, still those New Church parents, to whom no other course is open than to use these schools for their children, cannot otherwise than feel that it is fortunate that such is the law. For should religious instruction be given, it would not be instruction in the truths of the Word, but in the falsities of the Old Church.

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It must, however, be noted that the law is in most cases not strictly enforced. There are many teachers who make it their practice to give their children religious talks, imparting to them the prevailing falsities; and even where this is not done, the children imbibe the falsities concerning three divine persons, the vicarious atonement by the passion of the cross, and salvation by faith alone, by means of the so-called sacred songs so universally introduced by teachers into the schools. Herein lies a great danger,--the danger of depriving the children of their spiritual food, spoken of above. That there is no such danger in a New Church school, but that, on the contrary, the children will here receive the food necessary to their spiritual growth and development, is evident.

     New Church schools have been established in order that children may be educated in accordance with New Church principles. Such education involves first of all true religious instruction. But this is not all that is involved. We are taught that in the New Church all things are to be made new. Education, therefore, as a whole, is to become new in the New Church; and this means that we must reject all that is evil and false in the work of education as done in the world, and carry on this work in the light of the truth revealed by the Lord in the doctrines of the Church.

     The public schools educate for a life in this world, but not for a true life in this world. They educate for the life which prevails in the world at this day,--for a life in which the loves of self and the world hold sway. Children are urged to apply themselves to the acquisition of knowledge, not in order that they may thus fit themselves to become forms of use in human society, serving the Lord and the neighbor by a life of use, but in order that they may be able to succeed in life, that is, in order that they may be able to compete with others, and if possible excel them, in gaining honor and power and wealth; thus the evil loves of self and of the world, the loves which are the opposite to those of heaven, are encouraged and cultivated with them.

     In the public schools we also find reflected the naturalism and atheism which are so universal among the learned at this day. Science has been divorced from religion, and nature is regarded as something living from its own power, independent of a Divine Creator and Ruler.

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In the higher grades of public and other schools, where science is taught, it is very seldom that the pupils are led to look to the Lord as the one and only source of life, and to trace all the wondrous things which appear in nature to their great First Cause. Moreover, the science of the day is, in it theories and fundamental principles, for the most part false, as can be clearly evident to anyone who is willing to view it in the light of the truth revealed in the doctrines of the New Church.

     To the evils of a public school education, which we have mentioned, there must be added another, namely, the sphere of immorality which, as is well known, infests the public schools at this day, and by which those who attend these schools cannot but be contaminated. We would especially call attention to that immorality which pertains to filthy and lascivious speech and practices. With respect to this it may truly be said, that the public schools are hot-beds of vice. It is clear that education in such a sphere will not prepare the young to become receptive of conjugial love, of that true marriage love into which are collated all the joys and delights of heaven, and which inflows from heaven into all those who shun the evils of its opposite in will, thought, speech and act.

     In order that it may not be thought that our condemnation of the education of the day is unwarranted, we shall here add, for the benefit of those who desire to form their opinions from the doctrines of the New Church, one of the teachings given in the Writings on this subject. In the Arcana Caelestia, No. 2125, we read as follows:

     "The quality of the members of the Christian Church at this day was visibly exhibited to me [in the spiritual world] by representations....There were seen children, who were combed by their mothers so cruelly, that the blood flowed round about; by which was represented that such is the education of infants at this day."

     From these considerations it is evident, that a new education is necessary in the New Church,--a new education given in schools in which the spirit of the New Church enters into all particulars of the work. In such education Heaven and the Church will be the primary end; but there will also be true preparation for the life in this world, and there will be kept before the child the importance of the acquisition of worldly knowledge for the sake of a life of use.

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The sciences will be taught in the light of the revelation given to the New Church, and the child will be led to think of the Lord as the Creator and Preserver of all things in the universe. The moral development of the child will receive the constant attention of the teacher, who will not only instruct his pupils in the virtues of moral life, but also ever keep a watchful eye on all that transpires among them, both in and out of school. In this work he will have full co-operation of the parents, so that home and school may work together in the development of character. Thus will there be true education of the mind, and not only of the mind, but also of the heart.

     All members of the New Church have more or less of what is called missionary zeal, which is the desire and effort to spread the knowledge of the Heavenly Doctrines, in order that the number of those who embrace the same, and who constitute the Church, may increase. The result of this zeal has been a great amount of missionary work, by which many have been led to the New Church.

     But, nevertheless, the statistics of the Church clearly indicate that for some years there has been no increase in the number of receivers, but rather a decrease. We need not search far to find the cause for this deplorable condition, for it is none other than that the children of New Church parents have, to a very great extent, not remained in the Church. If during the past century one-half of the children of the Church had remained within the fold, the number of members would today be many times as great as it is. The Church as a whole, in its effort to bring the world to the light of the new revelation, has neglected the most fruitful field of missionary labor, which is with the children. Some have come to realize this mistake, and have for some years been turning their missionary zeal chiefly in the direction of providing for the proper education of children in New Church schools. The results have been most gratifying in the societies where this has been done; for not only has there been a steady increase in number, but there also exists an earnest love for the Church, delightful to see, with the younger generation. While evangelistic work in the world around us is not to be neglected, still it is necessary that we should realize that New Church education is the great missionary work which should receive our first attention.

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     In order that this work may be properly done, the New Church educator must diligently study all that is taught in the doctrines of the Church concerning children and their education, including what we are told concerning the education of children in heaven; also, the doctrine concerning the human mind and its orderly growth and development. He must also take up the work of the reconstruction of the sciences, so that they may be of genuine use to those of the Church. In short, he must earnestly seek to learn how "all things are to be made new" in the education of the New Church. These things are being done by the teachers in the New Church schools to which we have alluded. Under their instruction, also, young men and women are preparing themselves to enter into the work of educating children in New Church schools. Thus, in the Providence of the Lord, there are given to us New Church schools and teachers for them. It remains for the Church in general to co-operate more fully in the work of true education. In the degree in which such co-operation takes place, the number of New Church schools and the number of children receiving the benefits of the same will increase, and then there will follow that growth and progress in the reception of the doctrine and life of the New Jerusalem, which every true New Churchman most earnestly desires.

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FUTURE OF THE NEW CHURCH 1902

FUTURE OF THE NEW CHURCH       C. TH. ODHNER       1902

     IN the preceding chapters on "The Distinctiveness of the New Church" it was shown that the Lord in His Second Coming has revealed the future conditions and ultimate fate of the perverted Christian Church. In general, we are taught in this Divine prophecy, (1) that there will be divided churches as before, and their doctrines will be taught as before; (2) that those of the Old Church will remain in their external worship, as the Jews have remained in theirs; (3) that the devastation will continue through the constant accumulation of hereditary evil; (4) that the darkness will increase in the Old Church, as the light increases in the New; (5) that those of the Old Church, left by the Lord, will become as pagans who have no religion; (6) that the externals as well as the internals of the Old Church will ultimately perish, and (7), that the Church will then be transferred to nations which at this day are Gentiles.

     These things having been established by Doctrine, the question arises, What of the future of the New Church in Christendom while the vastation of the Old Church is progressing towards its consummation? How will it be established in the beginning, and how will it grow? Will it suffer persecutions like other nascent churches, and when and where will it finally prevail?

     In regard to these subjects, also, the veil of the future has been lifted by Him who Is, who Was, and who Will be. The future of the New Church is foretold, both in the Letter and the Spirit of the Word, and the prophecy is as follows: (1) The New Church in Christendom is to begin in the same manner as preceding Churches have begun; (2) it will be received at first by a few, signified by "the remnant," and "the elect;" (3) these few are to be collected together, and thus separated, from those of the Old Church, and they are afterwards to be inaugurated and instructed; (4) the New Church will gradually increase, in the proportion that falsities are eradicated among its members, through the instrumentality of a new clergy; (5) the growth, however, will not take place immediately or in a moment, but will be difficult and slow; (6) while growing, the New Church is to tarry among those who are of the Old Church; (7) the New Church is to be persecuted by the Dragon, and efforts will be made to destroy it; (8) nevertheless, the Church will be protected, hidden, and guarded by the Lord; (9) preparation will be made cautiously for its wider extension; (10) ultimately, as the Old Church arrives at its consummation, the New Church will be established, triumphant, throughout the earth.

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     THE ANALOGY OF HISTORY.

     There is nothing more objectionable to a "permeationist" in the New Church than the principle that "History repeats itself." Give the premises of a general knowledge of Church History and the principle of historical Analogy, the conclusion is inevitable that the New Church is to have previous dispensations arose. But this conclusion utterly upsets all the cherished notions of an immediate, unconscious, and universal reception of the New Church throughout Christendom; it proves the necessity f separation from all the denominations of the Old Church; it ties us down to a "narrow, uncharitable, sectarian" idea of slow and painful growth among a few and obscure receivers. It proves too much, in short, for the palate of our "liberal" brethren, and so they try to explain away the fatal lemma of "historical Analogy." "The New Church," they say, "is different from all other churches, and it will therefore be established in a totally different manner from the former churches." "The New Church is essentially in internal Church, and it will therefore be established in an internal way, without external separation." And thus, sans ceremonie, the "historical Analogy," with all that it involves, is thrown overboard

     But the Analogy is not the mere induction of human reasoning; it is drawn by a Divine hand, and its applications are too direct to be thus ignored. Consider, for instance, the following teachings:

     "The reason it is of the Lord's Divine Providence that at first the [New] Church should be among a few, and should increase successively among many, is that the falsities of the former Church are first to be removed. The like took place with the Christian Church, in that it increased successively from a few to many." (Apocalypse Revealed, 547.)

     "They frequently inquire of me respecting the New Church, when it will come, to which I answer, By degrees.... It is known that the Christian Church did not rise immediately after the Ascension of Christ, but increased gradually." (Documents, 240.)

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     "At the end of the Church the interior things of the Word are manifested which are to be of service for the New Church for doctrine and life. This was done by the Lord Himself when the end of the Jewish Church was at hand, but still those things were not received immediately, as is known from Ecclesiastical History....The like was done when the Most Ancient Church, arrived at its end....In like manner it has been done at this day, when the Church which was called 'Christian' has arrived at its end." (Apocalypse Explained, 670.)

     "With respect to the Churches the case is as follows:...were several Churches which come to an end; the Most Ancient Church thus expired about the time of the Flood; in like manner the Ancient Church which was after the Flood, and also a Second Ancient Church, which was called the Hebrew Church: and lastly the Jewish Church. Afterwards a New Church was raised up which was called the Church of the Gentiles, and which was an internal Church; but this Church is now at its end. . . . But when a Church is consummated and perishes, then the Lord always raises up a New Church elsewhere, from the Gentiles who before were in ignorance." (Arcana Caelestia, 3898.)

     "It is to be known that when any Church perishes . . . the New Church is established with those among whom there was no Church before...It was thus when the Most Ancient Church perished....In like manner when the Church called Noah perished; then the semblance of a Church was instituted with the descendants of Abraham, who was a Gentile. . . . After this semblance of a Church had been consummated, Gentile.... After this semblance of a Church had been consummated, the Primitive [Christian] Church was established from the Gentiles, the Jews being rejected. In like manner it will be with this Church which is called Christian." (Ibid, 2986.)

     The same inevitable analogy is taught in passages too numerous to be quoted; the lesson involved is one with the universal principles that the general includes the particular, that Nature, spiritual as well as material, is alike to itself in greatest and in least, and that the same universal laws will operate in the future as well as in the past.

     It will not do, therefore, to ignore the "Analogy of History" when established by the combined testimony of Divine Revelation and of human observation in all ages. As it has been in the case of the establishment of all previous Churches, so it will be, (and has been), in the case of the establishment of the New Jerusalem Church.

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True, "conditions are different now" from what they were at any other period in history. "Conditions" may change, indeed, but the laws of the Divine Providence never change; human nature remains the same as ever, and it is with this, and not with "conditions," that the Divine Providence has to deal in the establishment of a New Church.

     But if the Analogy of History is to be thus strictly applied, what of the future of the New Church itself? Will this Church, also, decline, and be judged, and be succeeded by some Church still more new? Are we not taught that this is to be the final and the crowning Church which to all eternity is not to pass away? Yea, the New Church as a whole, or in general, will never decline or pass away, but will forever progress upward and inward, to ever greater perfection and glory, for she is, in the history of the Churches, what eternal life is in relation to the four ages of mortal life, but nevertheless there will still be a repetition of the past, or an Analogy of History, in the particular successive states of the New Church itself. It cannot be otherwise, for, though there will nevermore be a Flood, as in the time of Noah, or a Last Judgment, as in the year 1757, still, "while the earth remaineth, seed-time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease." (Gen. viii:22.)

     General states will forever succeed one another, and in these there will be particular states analogous to the rise and progress and decline and death of the former Churches. General organizations of the New Church, Conferences, and Conventions, and Assemblies, will have their day,-they will arise from small beginnings; they will increase into greater fullness; infestations from self and the world will at times cause the light and the love to grow more dim and cold; there will e judgments, and separations, and dissolutions of external organizations. What of it! That which is made by man, or in which the hand of man has any part, is subject to change and decay. These things are as inevitable as the "Analogy of History" and need not be regretted. But out of the womb of each preceding state there will be born one more internal and more perfect, approaching nearer and nearer to a realization upon earth of the New Jerusalem in the heavens.

     (To be Continued.)

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Editorial Department 1902

Editorial Department       Editor       1902

     THE BIBLICAL USE OF THE TERM "THE WORD."

     It is of all things the most astonishing that members of the New Church should deny that the Writings of the New Jerusalem are the Word of God. They will admit that the Word of God is a Revelation of the Divine Truth, and that the Writings, also, are a Revelation of Divine Truth, but they will not admit that the Writings are the Lord of God. As the ostensible reason for thus rejecting the fundamental axiom of all sound reason, they bring forward the argument that the term "the Word" is to be applied to the Letter of the Word alone, because this alone is "written by correspondences." They do not realize that by thus confining their idea of the Word to that which is only the "Letter" of the Word, they place themselves in opposition to that Letter itself. If by "the Word" is to be understood only the written Scriptures, then these Scriptures are plainly wrong in their use of that term. For the Sacred Scriptures, and the Writings of the Apostles, certainly do not present any such limited idea of "the Word" as that which seems to be in the minds of many of the members of the New Church.

     Desiring to ascertain from the Scriptures themselves the exact usage and meaning of the expression "the Word," we examined more than a thousand passages in which that term occurs in the two Testaments. Not a single instance could be found in which "the Word" is applied exclusively to the Scriptures alone. A summary of the results of our examination is presented below.



     By "the Word," in the Bible, is meant the Divine Truth itself, infinite and eternal, all-creative and regenerative.

     "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.... All things were made by it; and without it was not anything made that was made." John 1:1.

     "By the Word of the Lord were the Heavens made, and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth." Psalm 33:6.

     "By the Word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water." 2 Peter 3:5.

     "For there are three that bear record in Heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit." 1 John 5:7.

     "For ever. O Lord. Thy Word is settled in the Heavens." Psalm 119:89.

     Is there anyone so blind as not to see that by "the Word," in these passages, is not meant the written Letter! And would any member of the New Church dare to suggest that the Scriptures are wrong in referring to the unwritten, essential Divine Truth as "the Word of God?"

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     By "the Word," in the bible, is meant the personal Word, the Lord Himself when on the earth."

     "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14.

     "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our eyes have handled, the Word of Life." 1 John 1:1.

     "Even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eye-witnesses and ministers of the Word." Luke 1:2.

     Surely no member of the New Church can be so obdurate, so bound in literal technicalities, as to deny that this "Word" was the living Word itself who had come to fulfill the written Word! Was He not the Word before the world was made and before the Scriptures were written? Are we not in danger of denying the Lord Himself, if we insist that the Letter alone is to be called "the Word?"



     By "the word," in the bible, is meant the Doctrine taught by the Lord when on the earth.

     "And they were astonished at His Doctrine, for His Word was with power." Luke 4:32.

     "Now ye are clean through the Word which I have spoken unto you." John 15:3.

     "And He preached the Word unto them." Mark 2:2.

     "And with many such parables spake He the Word unto them. Mark 4:33.

     "Then Peter said, The Word which God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ, (He is the Lord of all),--that Word, I say, ye know, which was published through all Judea, and began from Galilee, after the baptism which John preached." Acts 10:37.

     As the Lord when on the earth was the Word itself, and as the Doctrine which He taught was and remains the Word of God, so the Doctrine which at His Second Coming He taught from Himself as the Word is likewise the Word of God. For as from the Lord there can proceed nothing but what is the Lord Himself, so all genuine Doctrine from the Word is the Word itself.



     By "the Word," in the Bible, is meant the Doctrine of Truth, as preached by the Lord's apostles and ministers in the Church, and this even before the New Testament had been written.

     "And they went forth and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the Word with signs following. Mark 16:20.

     "And when they had testified and preached the Word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem and preached the Gospel in many villages of the Samaritans." Acts 8:25.

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     "The Holy Spirit fell upon all of them which heard the Word." Acts 10:44.

     "And the Word of God increased, and the number of the disciples multiplied." Acts 6:7.

     If, then, the unwritten Doctrine of the primitive Christian Church is called "the Word," how can it be that the written Doctrine of the New Jerusalem, inspired and revealed immediately by the Lord alone, is not the Word of God?



     By "the Word," in the Apocalypse, is meant the Revelation of the Spiritual Sense.

     "And I saw Heaven opened, and behold, a White Horse, and He that sat upon him was called Faithful and True,...and His name is called The Word of God." Rev. 19:13.

     "This signifies the Spiritual Sense of the Word revealed by the Lord, and by it the interior understanding of the Word disclosed, which is the Advent of the Lord." A. R., 820.

     Every divine Revelation is the Word of god, each one, indeed, in a different sense and on a different plane, but still the Word of God, and nothing less than it, on that plane, and in that sense. To deny this, and to confine the application of the term "the Word" to the Old and the New Testaments alone is to deny that the Revelation given to the Ancient Church,-the Ancient Word,-or the Word "written upon the hearts" of the men of the Golden Age, were each the Word of God. It is to deny that the teachings delivered by the Lord when on earth,-of which not a thousandth part was afterwards written down, were the Word of God, and it is, finally, to deny the Lord Himself, who, if not approached and worshiped as the Word, is not approached and worshiped at all.

     Will not the members of the New Church, therefore, at length awaken from the stupor into which they have sunk in regard to "the Word?" Will they not accept loyally the unanimous testimony of the Evangelists, of the Apostles, and of Swedenborg, that by "the Word" is meant all divine Truth, wheresoever and whensoever revealed by the Lord, and thus learn to think widely, freely, and rationally of the Word of God? Only thus will they be able to recognize and to receive the Lord, in and as the Word, immediately present in the Revelation of the New Jerusalem.

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THAT "PARTIAL ACCEPTANCE" OF SWEDENBORG 1902

THAT "PARTIAL ACCEPTANCE" OF SWEDENBORG              1902

     It is not often, nowadays, that the New Church is honored by mention in the secular press, and the following from the New York Mail and Express for May 29th must prove highly gratifying to the "remarkably intellectual," "cultivated," and "eminently sane" followers of a supposed madman:

     "The Church of the New Jerusalem, which was not established by Emanuel Swedenborg, but was founded on his assumed revelation, is holding its national convention in this city. It is so small and select a body that its general convention attracts scarcely any attention. To the ordinary intelligence the revelations of Swedenborg appear to be made up of the hallucinations of an unsound mind; but the members of the church which was founded upon them are a remarkably intellectual and eminently sane body of people. Their clergy are trained with a thoroughness and rigidity which are practiced in no other denomination, and all of their ministers are redoubtable antagonists in religious or philosophical discussion. Their laity, though insignificant in numbers, include many people of wealth and high cultivation. The doctrines of Swedenborg undoubtedly exercise more influence in their partial acceptance by the clergy and members of other denominations than they do through the organization of the New Church itself."

     We suspect the writer of the above notice is a New Church "permeationist" in disguise; his verbiage sounds so strangely familiar. It is the same old slogan that was raised by Henry James, Sr., half a century ago. The "doctrines of Swedenborg in their partial acceptance,"-that is, minus the doctrines concerning the Lord, the Word, Life, Faith, the Spiritual World, and a few other essentials,-have had as much influence on "the clergy and members of other denominations," in general, as had the doctrines of primitive Christianity on the priests and worshipers of Jupiter, Venus, Isis, and Serapis in the Roman world of old! The "influence and the final triumph of Christianity was effected through the organization of the Christian Church itself, and thus also it will be in the case of the New Church. History never reverses its fundamental laws, for these are the immutable laws of the Divine Order and the Divine Providence. Never yet was there any great change, or reformation, or any establishment of a new Church or Dispensation effected by unorganized "influences," but in every case by means of distinct organizations of men upholding new principles. What is unorganized is inorganic, and therefore, void both of life and influence.

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Monthly Review 1902

Monthly Review              1902

     NEW PUBLICATIONS.

     The Doctrine of Uses. From the Latin of Emanuel Swedenborg. London. The Swedenborg Society, 1901; pp.152.

     It was with some surprise we took up this new volume. "The Doctrine of Uses,"--did Swedenborg ever write a work under this title? But, no, it is a title invented by the translator as a substitute for "The Divine Love" and "The Divine Wisdom," the two posthumous treatises which are usually referred to as "D. L. and D. W. in A. E."

     Having made sure of this fact, our next feeling was one of regret that a duplication of labor could not have been prevented by some degree of co-operation and mutual understanding between the American and the British Swedenborg Societies. Four years ago the American Swedenborg Society issued a new version of these treatises,--the labor of the Rev. J. C. Ager. Now the London Society publishes still another version, the work of the Rev. Isaiah Tansley. There would have been a reason for this, if the latter edition had proved to be a decided improvement upon the former, either as to internal or external excellence, but it is not, as far as we have been able to compare the two editions.

     As translations go, both versions are good; though they differ greatly from one another in minor points, both may be said to be on the whole faithful to the original, and more simple, direct, and graceful in style and diction than any of the preceding versions. Nevertheless, in our judgment, the American edition is slightly superior to the English one, as, in general, it exhibits more careful study of the original, and on this account is more successful in bringing out the complete sense of the text. Instances of this appear on every page, but our limited space does not permit us to enter into particulars; as to actual errors we have not seen any of special importance.

     Except in the matter of type and paper, the American edition is by far the more perfect, from a literary point of view. It presents the Latin on one page, and the English on the other; it gives the headings distinct from text; it includes the fragmentary but important headings on the last page of the original manuscript, (which are omitted by Mr. Tansley), and it contains a very complete Index, which is wanting in the London edition. If there are few faults to be found with the version, the same cannot be said of the unfortunate title page to the volume before us. "Doctrine of Uses.....Being a transition of 'De Divino Amore et de Divina Sapientia' contained in his posthumous work entitled 'Apocalypsis Explicata.'"

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Within these few lines there are contained four serious errors. 1. Swedenborg never wrote any work under the title "Doctrine of Uses." 2. This, certainly, is not a "translation" of the title "De Divino Amore," etc. 3. There is no single work entitled-"De Divino Amore et de Divina Sapientia," and, 4. These treatises are not "contained" in the Apocalypse Explained.

     The translator, in his "Prefatory Note," does not vouchsafe a single reason for substituting "Doctrine of Uses" for the titles given by their inspired author; he does not even indicate that a substitution has been made, but, without a word of warning, calmly rejects the title by which the work has been known throughout the New Church for over a century. Such a proceeding is high-handed, indeed, and is not likely to be tolerated by the Church as a whole. The "Doctrine of Uses" is but one of the many doctrines presented in this volume. The translator might just as well have named it "The Doctrine of Man," or "The Doctrine of Degrees," but as a matter of undeniable fact, it is the all-inclusive Doctrine of the Divine Love and the Divine Wisdom which is here revealed under its own appropriate name. But this aside, is it not a well-founded and generally recognized point of literary ethics that an author has the right to give names to his own works, and that this right is to be respected? How much more, then, should we respect the titles given by an author who was Divinely guided and inspired!

     The translator, no doubt, was actuated by the well-meant desire to distinguish the present volume from the Angelic Wisdom concerning the Divine Love and the Divine Wisdom. There would have been o reason for confusion, however, if the students of the Writings in general had observed that the volume usually referred to as "D. L. and D. W. in A. E." is not one continuous work, but is composed of two distinct treatises, each of them numbered independently, and each with its own title: the one being entitled "De Divino Amore," and the other "De Divina Sapientia," and this without any "et" to connect them. This has been correctly observed by Mr. Potts in the concordance, where the one is referred to as "D. Love," and the other as "D. Wis."

     The statement on the title page that these treatises are "contained" in the Apocalypse Explained perpetuates a time-honored error which is based on the mere accident of Robert Hindmarsh having published them as an appendix to his Latin edition of Apocalypsis Explicata of 1789. A brief synopsis of the treatise of "The Divine Love" is indeed presented in A. E. 1229, (the closing paragraph of that work), but the treatise itself, as well as its companion on "The Divine Love" is entirely independent of any other work, and is contained in a separate manuscript, the "Codex 113."

     It is to be hoped that the volume under review will soon be re-issued with a correct title-page, more in harmony with the accuracy and faithfulness of the translation itself.

     In concluding, we present the following resume of the history of these treatises:

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     1759. A synopsis of the treatise De Divino Amore is presented in the closing paragraph of Apocalypsis Explicata.

     1763. In the treatise De Divina Sapientia viii: 1, Swedenborg states: "I have been in daily communication with [angels and spirits] from the year 1744 up to this time, a period of nineteen years." From which it follows that this work was completed in the year 1763. In June of that year Swedenborg left Stockholm for Amsterdam, where he published the "Sapientia Angelica de Divino Amore et de Divina Sapientia." The two preceding treatises on the same subject were evidently written in preparation for the latter, which is more general and systematic.

     1780. Augustus Nordenskold procures a somewhat faulty transcription of the original manuscript in Stockholm.

     1783. This copy is brought to London by his brother, Charles F. Nordenskold, and is deposited with Mr. Henry Peckitt.

     1789. From this copy Mr. Robert Hindmarsh, of London, publishes a first Latin edition, as an Appendix to the fourth volume of the Apocalypsis Explicata.

     1808. The Rev. Wm. Hill, then residing near Philadelphia, prepares a first English translation, which he sends to England, together with his translation of Apocalypsis Explicata.

     1813. This MS. is printed at Manchester, at the expense of the Manchester Printing and Publishing Society, as the first English edition of these treatises.

     1828. A first American edition is published at Boston, by Mr. Adonis Howard, from the first English edition.

     1840. A second English edition, revised by Rev. Francis Soyers, is published by the London Swedenborg Society, as an appendix to A. E., vol. vi.

     1841. A second American edition, from the second English, is published at Boston, by Mr. Otis Clapp.

     1843. M. Le Boys des Guays, at St. Amand, publishes a first French edition; together with an exhaustive Index.

     1847. A third American edition is published at New York, by John Allen, as an appendix to A. E., vol. v.

     1859. A second French edition is published by M. Le Boys des Guays, at St. Amand, in connection with A. E., vol. vii. The same is published separately, in1860.

     1864. A third English edition, revised by Mr. Henry Butter, is published by the London Swedenborg Society.

     1866. A fourth American edition is published by J. B. Lippincott, Philadelphia, in a volume entitled "The Divine Attributes."

     1869. A photo-lithographed copy of the original MS is published by Dr. R. L. Tafel, as Section III of the Eighth volume of the Photo lithographs.

     1871. A fourth English edition, revised by Mr. Keene, is published by the London Swedenborg Society, as an appendix to A. E., vol. vi.

     1882. A first German edition, translated by Prof. Pfirsch, is published at Frankfort am Main, as an appendix to A. E., vol. iv.

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     1884. A second Latin edition is prepared from the photo-lithographed copy by Dr. S. H. Worcester, and is published at New York by the American Swedenborg Society, as an appendix to A. E., vol. v, together with a copious Index. The same is published independently in 1859.

     1897. A fifth American edition, translated by the Rev. J. C. Ager, together with an Index, and with the Latin original on the opposite pages, is published at New York by the American Swedenborg Society, as an appendix to vol. xii of the Latin-English edition. The same is also published independently, and again, without the Latin, as an appendix to A. E., vol. vi.

     1901. A fifth English edition, translated by the Rev. Isaiah Tansley, is published by the London Swedenborg Society, under the title of "Doctrine of Uses."
NEW CHURCH JOURNALS 1902

NEW CHURCH JOURNALS              1902

     The Messenger. November 13th. The literary editor, in a review of the article on "The Twelve Apostles," takes exception to the statement that now, as at the First Advent, the disciples of the Lord are to be found among "obscure and lowly people, simple fishermen, seekers for truth." The editor exclaims: "Surely it is difficult to class Swedenborg himself, or such disciples as Wilkinson and Clissold, with the poor, ignorant, and simpleminded." The editor seems deficient in perception. The disciples of the Second Coming are on the spiritual plane that which the twelve were on the natural plane. Read the Book of Dreams, for instance, and it will be perfectly clear from that record of spiritual temptations, that Swedenborg, at least, looked upon himself as "poor, ignorant, and simpleminded" in the presence of his Lord. "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." "Verily, I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, shall in nowise enter therein." Does this militate against the "Nunc licet intrare intellectualiter?" No, for the recognition of one s own poverty and ignorance is the very beginning of rational intellectual thought. The science and philosophy of the learned world can no more enter through this gate of humility than a camel can enter through the eye of a needle.

     "Killing two birds with one stone" is the title of a paper by William McGeorge, Jr., which is so heartsearching a diagnosis of the worldliness and the lack of spiritual charity at this day prevailing in the professed New Church that we most earnestly recommend it to the attention of our readers.

     November 20th. Do the editors of the Messenger have full control of the journal, or are they entirely unable to prevent ignorance and perversity from setting themselves up as teachers to the "Young People" of the New Church? Never in the history of the Church has there been made a more direct attack against Conjugial Love than the one appearing in an article entitled "Within what limits, if any, should New Church Young People cultivate intimate friendships and marry outside the Church?" The writer, who signs himself "P. S.," frankly recognizes that "in all our societies we find it unavoidably true that our young people do drift into the closest outside friendships and do marry outside the Church, regardless of the oft-repeated advice against it."

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Not only does the writer disregard the distinct teachings of Divine Revelation, that such unions are "accounted heinous in heaven," (A. C. 8998), and that the angels cannot remain in a house where the married partners are of discordant religions," (C. L. 242), but he condones the tendency towards mixed marriages on the ground that "the youthful mind intuitively recognizes the strength in a union of opposites." [A union such as that of "the sons of God with the daughters of men," out of which were born the Nephilim before the Flood]. "The New Churchman turns to the mind which lacks what he has and to the heart which has what he too often lacks." What an admission, and what a presumption!

     Not contented with excusing and recommending this evil practice, the writer goes so far as to enjoin it upon the conscience of the Church, as a matter of Divine Ordinance. "The heavenly marriage," he says, "is not between the good of the external man and the truth of the same, but between the good of the external man and the truth of the internal, that is, between the good of the natural man and the truth of the spiritual man (A. C. 3952)." By a total misunderstanding and misapplication of this teaching, the writer comes to the insane conclusion that it is the bounden duty of a New Churchman, "the man with a gift of spiritual truth, to be joined in wedlock, the holy union of good and truth, to an old Churchman or unbeliever, supposing that he have that natural good, that wholesome morality and uprightness of life which is by no means confined to the membership of the New Church."

     This "analogy" would be ludicrous if carried out as suggested, for it would follow that two of the same religion or of the same plane of thought and affection must never marry one another. The "natural" woman must marry a "spiritual" man, and the spiritual woman must marry a "celestial" man. but what of the natural man and the celestial woman? And what if the Old Church woman after marriage accepted the truth of the New Church man? Her good would then become spiritual good, and the marriage would necessarily be dissolved, since it could no longer be a union of good of a lower degree with truth of a higher degree! But the suggestion is too profane and deadly to be ridiculous. We hope that some one may yet present the true Doctrine of the Church in the Messenger in answer to "P. S." who continues his unwholesome vaporings in the issue for December 4th. In the meantime, in response to the suggestion of "P. S." that by the practice of mixed marriages "the Church has performed one of its chief uses by bringing its truths to the knowledge of another soul," we may well quote the words of Paul: "For what knowest thou, O wife, whether thou shalt save thy husband? Or how knowest thou, O man, whether thou shalt save thy wife?" (I. Cor. 7:16). "Be ye not, therefore, unequally yoked together with unbelievers, for what communion hath light with darkness? Or what part hath he that believeth, with an infidel?" (II. Cor. 6:14, 15).

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     The New Church Review. October, 1901. We regret having been obliged to delay the notice of this issue of our weighty Bostonian contemporary. The leading articles of this issue are of a decidedly philosophical character, dealing mostly with very recondite subjects. The paper on "The theory of evolution and New Church Philosophy," by Rev. H. C. Hay, is a carefully studied presentation of the true principle of Evolution as revealed through Swedenborg,-the Evolution of genera and species by discreet, successive, and contiguous degrees, as contrasted with the Darwinian theory of continuous Evolution. The quotations from the Writings and from modern authors, and the conclusions of the writer, are most interesting and useful, and the paper as a whole is a valuable contribution towards the development of a rational philosophy of Nature. May Hay concludes "that the spiritual part of the work of creation at the beginning was instantaneous, and always is instantaneous-above the limitations and laws of space and time: but that the natural phenomena of this instantaneous or eternal creation came in the order indicated by the nebular theory and the evidences of geology." This statement does not seem quite clear or satisfactory to us. That creation in the spiritual world is instantaneous cannot be disputed in the New Church. But the Writings teach, most emphatically, that the things of the natural world also "were created in like manner in the beginning," i.e. instantaneously. (T. C. R. 78). To our mind, the nebular hypothesis and the evidences of Geology in no wise interfere with the instantaneity of even the natural part of the work of creation, for Nature itself, and all the genera and species of the three kingdoms thereof, certainly must have had a beginning, and that beginning or those initiaments must have been instantaneous,--without anything of the same kind preceding it,--or the word "beginning" has no meaning. The creation of a thing means simply the beginning of that thing, and since nothing can exist before its beginning it follows that the beginning of all creation, whether spiritual or natural, must be instantaneous. The Darwinian tissue of falsity cannot be met successfully by admitting that the "creationist's" theory is applicable to the spiritual world, but not to the natural world also. The same Divine laws of order govern both worlds.

     Rev. George W. Dole, in his interesting paper on "The Creation of First Forms," repudiates not only the theories of the Evolutionists, but also the "creationists'" theory, and substitutes "the natural operation of law" for "the arbitrary fiat" of the latter. While heartily sympathizing with the rejection of the Old Church ideas of an arbitrary God and a creation "out of nothing," we submit that there is grave danger in the rejection of the idea of a primordial Divine "fiat." In the beginning God said "Let there be Light, and there was Light." We have here a "fiat" beyond which human philosophy never reach. To us this must "fiat," since by our natural reasoning we shall never he able to analyze the inmost operations of the Creator: but the idea of arbitrariness disappears in the knowledge of God as Divine Love, and therefore as Law and Order itself.

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     We are astonished at the writer's statement that "the highest created substance was formed by the Creator putting forth His own substance and withdrawing in the first degree the essential potencies of the Divine," and that "the lower discreet degrees were formed by withdrawing still further and successively the essential potencies of the higher." According to this theory, matter,-rock and dirt,-would be Divine Substance, minus certain Divine potencies. But nothing that is created is Divine in any sense whatever. Nor does the Divine "withdraw" itself from what is its own, or from its creation, for it is omnipresent, in ultimates as in firsts. The writer does not properly distinguish between the two very different processes of Divine Proceeding and Divine Creating. In order to understand the latter it is necessary to study it in the light of the spiritual law of end, cause, and effect. Otherwise, the mind is bound to fall into material ideas of spiritual things.

     The paper on "Progress in the Doctrine of Final Causes," by Rev. Frank Sewall, is characterized by the well known optimism of this writer. Ribot, Ward, Royce, James, Ladd, and other most recent philosophers, are quoted "to show how real a factor the doctrine of ends has become influential thought of our time, and holy far from the truth we would in resigning ourselves to the despondent conclusion that the light of the New Church in its doctrine of discrete degrees has been shining for over century without producing any effect upon mankind."

     We know not of any one who is so despondent or pessimistic, but we believe that our learned friend is overly-sanguine as to the influence of the light of the New Church upon the general "thought of our time." We know from Divine Revelation that the New Church is to "grow slowly," and we have reasons for believing that its growth will be fully as slow as that of the primitive Christian Church. This thought should temper our enthusiasm when watching the signs of the times. Swedenborg and the philosophical principles of the New Church are as little known to modern thinkers as was the New Testament to Marcus Aurelius or the philosophical principles of the second century A. D. As with the latter, so with modern writers, rays of light may still be found in the general darkness, but these are the reflections of the setting, not the rising sun. Plato and Aristotle are not yet forgotten in the civilized world, but it is a woeful mistake to ascribe a temporary revival of their theological principles to an "influence" of the New Church. This influence will be felt, we need not fear, but it will grow only with the organic growth of the New Church itself.

     Lack of space forbids any extended description of other papers in the Review, but they are well worth reading. John Bigelow writes on the significance of the "Name" of God; James B. Keene on "The Quarters, Time, and Space in the Two Worlds" Warren Goddard on "The Progressive Religion which meets the demands of the New Age:" George Trobridge on "Foreign Missions." and T. F. Wright on "Genesis in the Light Of Modern Knowledge."

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     Morning Light. November 9-30.Considerable activity is being shown in the "Junior Members' Corner" and a number of articles are appearing each week dealing with the needs, uses, etc., of the Junior Members. In these articles the writers continually emphasize the importance of the young people cherishing interest and affection for the New Church. "Inexpressibly sad," writes one, "would it be, if we did not try to impress upon your minds the value of that priceless Revelation which has come to us not from any man, nor from any angel, but from the Lord Himself." The writers are undoubtedly earnest and devoted, but it is strange and almost pathetic to note year after year that men exhort the young to learn the "priceless" Doctrines, and yet make not the slightest effort for the establishment of New Church day schools where affection for those Doctrines may be cherished from early childhood, and witness without protest the children of the Church surrounded from early years by the educational sphere of a devastated Church. Is it any wonder that both Conference and Convention are experiencing the effects in an annually decreasing membership which would be still more apparent were it not for new converts?

     November 23d. One of the results of the recent visit to Stockholm of Rev. J. Hyde, who lately spent two weeks there, is an article on "Swedenborg's Manuscripts" in which Mr. Hyde makes some sweeping assertions regarding the scientific MSS., his avowed purpose being to keep the Church from supporting the Swedenborg Scientific Association in its work of transcribing and publishing these latter. He begins with the general and inclusive statement that all the scientific MSS, yet unpublished have either been incorporated by Swedenborg, as to their substance, in his published works, or are of no value whatever. He then proceeds to illustrate his remarks by characterizing as of this nature the particular MSS, mentioned by the Swedenborg Scientific Association in its memorial to the Convention. But here Mr. Hyde's zeal appears to have got the better of his discretion, for the statements of the memorial appear to be based entirely on Tafel's Documents, and it would seem to be a somewhat rash proceeding for one who has had no more than Mr. Hyde's opportunities of examining the MSS. to pass such wholesale condemnation on the statements of Dr. Tafel. At any rate the Church will certainly require further evidence before rejecting these statements.

     New Church Magazine. November. The Rev. Jas. Hyde brings his articles on "Swedenborg's Bibles" to a close. From all the "array of evidence" which he adduces, he finally draws this conclusion, that "Swedenborg nowhere pretends to be a translator. It was not his mission to translate." And this despite of the fact that in the Divine Providence Swedenborg learned Hebrew solely for his use as a Revelator. The position is decidedly opposed to that held by scholars of the New Church both in the past and present. Mr. Hyde places himself in opposition not only to the work of Le Boys des Guays, who has made such invaluable collections of Swedenborg's translations, but also to the whole Convention, whose Translation Committee is even now engaged in preparing a Latin Bible which shall include all of Swedenborg's translations.

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For both the former and the latter undertook their labors with no other object than to provide the basis for a new translation of the Word, and the work already done has abundantly justified them. In confirmation of his position Mr. Hyde says that Swedenborg, by choosing the translations of others, "acted with a far sighted judgment that no man can over-praise. By accepting as the basal rendering a version which had been before the world for at least 20 years...he armed himself with an indisputable reply to any possible charge of having translated the Holy Scripture so as to make his spiritual interpretations feasible." As if Divine Revelation had need of such armor! or as if Swedenborg had not a still more "indisputable reply" by referring objectors to the Hebrew itself!

     Nya Kyrkans Tidning. November. Pastor Manby, in an editorial on "The Word of God, its own defence," exhibits the truly unscientific methods of modern "Higher Criticism," and points out the remarkable analogy between the crucifixion of the Lord, and the modern crucifixion of the Word. "In the light of the internal sense it will be seen that this rending asunder of part from part is a sacrilege. and one cannot but think of the Lord's words on the cross: 'Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.' This is, indeed, the final consequence of the devastation of the Church. When the Lord had given up His Spirit on the cross, His garments were divided into four parts, to signify how the Jews had dispersed to the four winds the truths of the letter of the Word. But the inner garment, the symbol of the spiritual sense, was left undivided. It was only in relation to themselves, in their own conception, that the Jews thus destroyed the Word,--and thus it is ever. The letter itself, as to its external form, they preserved with great care, and this they delivered to the Christian Church together with the internal meaning. The Christian Church is now doing exactly as did the Jewish Church. Christ is now spiritually crucified; His Divinity is denied, and His Word is torn to pieces, now even literally, to signify the still greater corruption which, as the Lord prophesied, would come upon His Church.

     But we need not fear. 'The inner garment' has been delivered unharmed to the Church of the New Jerusalem, and its covering, the Letter, will be preserved likewise. For now, as among the Jews at the First Advent, it is only within themselves that men can destroy the Word. The Word itself remains. It rises up again from the dead in its wholeness and unity and life within its very letter. Even the simple in the Christian Church at large will in a degree become the guardians of the Letter. To them it will justify itself as Divine. 'The Earth' will open its mouth to swallow up the waters of falsity which the 'Dragon' is pouring forth, and it will save 'the woman,' the Lord's New Church, whose Doctrine is founded upon the Word in the Letter. This Letter can and will defend itself by virtue of the 'life' and the 'spirit' which dwell therein.

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IN MEMORIAM: REV. HENRY B. COWLEY 1902

IN MEMORIAM: REV. HENRY B. COWLEY              1902

     After a lingering illness, the Rev. Henry Benade Cowley departed to his eternal house on December 2d, 1901.

     Mr. Cowley, who has born at Pittsburg, January 7th, 1871, was the second son of the late David Cowley, M. D., whose name is well-known as one of the pillars of the Pittsburg Society and as one of the earliest and most ardent members of the Academy of the New Church.

     Born and bred in an intensely active sphere of the Church, and gifted with a bright intelligence and earnestness of purpose. Henry Cowley from early childhood developed an unusually strong interest in spiritual things. He was, it may be said, "a born teacher," and gave evidence of the love of teaching even in early childhood. At the age of fourteen years he formed the determination to prepare himself for the ministry, and for this purpose entered the schools of the Academy in Philadelphia in 1886. After two years a constitutional illness forced him to give up his studies, and he now had to spend five weary years in outdoor work. Finally, in 1893, his health permitted him to resume his beloved studies in the Academy, from which he graduated as Bachelor of Arts in 1896, and as Bachelor of Theology in 1897. In the fall of the same year he was engaged as assistant teacher at the parish school of the Society in Huntingdon Valley. On June 15th, 1898, he married Miss Julia Viola Klein, a daughter of the late Andrew Klein, of Brooklyn, and sister of the Rev. David H. Klein, of Middleport, and on June 19th, 1898, he was ordained into the priesthood of the New Church by Bishop Pendleton. In the following year he was engaged as assistant to the Rev. Homer Synnestvedt, and as Headmaster of the local school at Bryn Athyn. Occupied almost exclusively in his work of teaching children, and throwing his whole heart and soul into this use, he never had much opportunity to enter into the general work of the priesthood, but was pre-eminently and by preference a school-master, a guide, philosopher and friend of the little ones, whose heart and interest he gained in a remarkable degree. The delight of his life was to teach and lead the young, and to prepare himself for ever more effective work by the study of the principles and methods of education. His career of usefulness, however, was not destined to be of long duration in this world. Never in robust health, he was forced by a severe illness to give up all active work in the spring of 1901. For many months there was hope of his ultimate recovery, and he himself looked forward with confidence and delight to the time when he should again he in the midst of his beloved school-children. But a complication of diseases finally set in, and he was quickly taken to a higher scene of labor in the use of New Church Education.

     At the memorial meeting, on December 4th, Pastor Synnestvedt, as an intimate associate, gave heartfelt testimony to the devotion of Mr. Cowley in his work, his bright, cheerful, patient and studious disposition, the appointed out the importance of the primary education of the young,-a work which is so fundamental, "so near the ground," that it is sometimes lost to our sight.

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Bishop Pendleton dwelt on the truth that "if a man loves his work, he will be saved," and spoke of the bright prospects and wide usefulness as an educator now opening before our brother in the other life. Mr. Odhner read an extract from the Apocalypse Explained, n. 732, showing that the New Church will increase on earth only according to her increase in the other world from the accumulation of such spirits as in this life had received the Heavenly Doctrines. From such increase, in the work of New Church Education will increase in this world. Mr. Acton, quoting the Spiritual Diary, n. 5003, dwelt on the reasons why men are removed from this world at as old or early age; one of the reasons there given, is that men die when uses are ready for them in the other world life. "Our brother was in the spiritual love of teaching children, and all children are collected and taught by angels in the spiritual world. There he will find a school ready for him, a school infinitely better equipped than the one he has left behind, and with living representations to illustrate his teaching." Mr. Starkey spoke of the hands of association until the other world which are increased in strength by every death in our midst. "The increased courage and determination with those who take up and carry on the use of those who have departed is by itself a sign of this increased association." Mr. Bostock pointed out that the work of education had apparently suffered a severe blow, inasmuch as Mr. Cowley was the only one of our ministers who had devoted his life exclusively to this use. But his death and his example should inspire us with renewed devotion and determination to perpetuate the use.

     Mr. Cowley's brother and sister. Dr. William Cowley and Miss Margaret Cowley, of Pittsburg, and his brothers-in-law, Mr. Anton Sellner and Mr. Samuel Klein, of New York, were present at the memorial meeting.
STILL AMBIGUOUS! 1902

STILL AMBIGUOUS!       John Whitehead       1902

Editors New Church Life.

     In your issue of October, you refer to a short paper of mine in the July New Church Review on "Is Religion Declining?" The paper was a report of a five-minute talk, introducing the topic at a meeting of the New Church Club, Boston; and it can hardly be dignified by being called an article. You speak disparagingly of the author's position, because he answers the question both ways, indicating that he does not have his own opinion made up as to how it should be answered. In this you are mistaken, and I am ready to prove from the Doctrines that any categorical answer you may give to the question, yes or no, is imperfect, and misleading, and, therefore, incorrect.
     Yours truly,
          John Whitehead,
Cass Ave. and High St.,
Detroit, Mich., Nov. 24, 1901.

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PROTEST FROM GERMANY 1902

PROTEST FROM GERMANY       M. Mittnacht       1902

EDITORS New Church Life.

     I have been a reader of your paper for many years, and have given the Life credit for trying to be true in its historical notes and just in its judgment of others.

     This opinion has, however, received a severe shock by your notice on "Germany" in the October number. You say: "In Germany there have been great and many obstacles to the growth of the New Church: the restricted freedom, the emigration of New Church people to America and elsewhere, the devastating influence of spiritism, and the speculative, unpractical form of mind with many of the past leaders."

     In justice to the "past leaders" I protest against the part assigned them here! I claim to know little of the history of the New Church in Germany; and from what I know, there has been conscientious, unselfish, hard work done for the Church in Germany, if anywhere! Done, without speculation; and done not by one man nor two, but by a number of men and women, at different times, and each in his way.

     To make little of all these past efforts does your paper no credit, nor will it do anything towards advancing the great success which is being looked forward to in the future. Let us judge justly of those in the past as we would be judged in the future!
     Respectfully yours,
          M. Mittnacht.

Biebrich, on the Rhine,
October 20th, 1901.

     Our correspondent seems to have misunderstood the statement in the October Life. We did not say "all of the past leaders," but "many" of them. We had in mind men such as Ludwig Hofaker, Gustav Werner, Dr. Hahn, Albert Artope, and some others, all of whom, in our opinion, may be described as "speculative" and "unpractical," to say the least. The works of Immanuel Tafel and J. G. Mittnacht speak for themselves. We had no idea that our words could be so construed as to "belittle" or cast any aspersion upon these devoted and self-sacrificing laborers. EDITOR.
WORDS OF APPRECIATION 1902

WORDS OF APPRECIATION       G. A. MCQUEEN       1902

EDITORS New Church Life.

     After reading your editorial on page 486 of the Life for September, I feel constrained to write you a few lines. I gather from your remarks that you will appreciate an expression of interest in the things of the Church in general, and of your Journal in particular, even though it comes from an obscure layman--one who had so well imbibed the "mind-your-own-business" teaching which became so prevalent a few years ago that he had almost reached the conclusion that as a layman he had no Church business of any kind in which to take an interest. However, there has been one constant source of strength and encouragement, in addition to the knowledge that the glorious work of the Academy was being carried forward by the General Church of the New Jerusalem, viz., the monthly visits of New Church Life.

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     The writer well remembers the effects produced in his own mind after reading the Life for the first time some twenty years ago. It was the means in the Divine Providence of introducing him into a New Church world-of bringing order out of mental chaos, and it may be said to have been the original cause of the victory of Academy principles in the Colchester Society of the New Church.

     I think you are right when you say of the Life that "its usefulness has not been confined to those of our own immediate connection." Some months ago the writer, whose business made it necessary to stay over Sunday in the west of England, visited the little circle of New Church people at the small town of Crediton in Devonshire. It practically consists of one family. The first thing which caught his eye upon entering the house of the gentleman who regularly conducts the services there, was a copy of the Life. He felt at home immediately, not because he expected to find here an ardent member of the General Church, but because one may generally conclude that a Newchurchman who reads the Life is a man whose feet are directed to the straight and narrow road which leads to full acceptance of the Heavenly Doctrines.

     In addition to the benefits conferred upon the Church at large by your publication, we must not forget the uses performed to the individual members of our own organization when passing through times of trial and doubt. Go forward, then, and be assured that you are accomplishing a work the importance of which it is difficult to overestimate. Sincerely yours, London. G. A. MCQUEEN.

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Church News 1902

Church News       Various       1902

FROM OUR CORRESPONDENTS.

     Berlin, Ont. Since the school opening in September the various uses of this Society have been resumed on all lines. The Friday evening suppers are regularly held, followed by Doctrinal class and singing practice, and seem to grow in popularity, the attendance being larger than ever. A Young People's class meets on Thursday evenings and a new use has been taken up, viz., the study of Swedenborg's scientific works. These meetings are held on Tuesdays, three times a month, and are proving very interesting. The Economy of the Animal Kingdom is being read and there is generally a good attendance.

     The men's meetings held last season every two weeks are now held once a month.

     The annual meeting of the society was held on Sept. 15th. Among other subjects of interest to the Church and school was a plan to increase the reading matter of our library. The suggestion was made by the Headmaster, Rev. E. J. Stebbing, that each pupil of the school bring one cent each week, thereby accumulating a fund to acquire new books from time to time. The idea was favorably received by all and is now being carried out.

     The social events of the past two months of special interest have been the celebration of our decennial, and a Hallowe'en party at the home of our Pastor. The latter was a very enjoyable affair being at once a donation party. Hallowe'en party and a surprise to Rev. and Mrs. Waelchli. A sphere of merriment prevailed throughout.

     The Athletic Club has not fallen asleep with the close of the outdoor season, but has appointed to look after the making of a skating rink for the glacial season. T. S. K.

     Brooklyn. As nothing has been heard from the Brooklyn circle for some time, I write chiefly to let it be known that we are still in existence, even though not very much in evidence. We are once again confronted with the problem of procuring a suitable place in which to hold our services, as the parlors of Mrs. Peters which were so kindly placed at our disposal last year are not available at present. Mrs. Peters having left for a protracted visit to her relatives, the Pollocks, at Wheeling, W. Va. We hope that a convenient room may be found before long. S. A. K.

     Since writing the above, we have been fortunate enough to secure a suitable place of worship, and monthly services will be resumed, commencing January 5th.

     The Academy Schools. One morning during the month Prof. Price took the whole school by surprise (which wasn't at all fair) and submitted us one and all to a special examination in English Literature. We think that our worthy professor did it really "for fun," and if so he has had his reward for after the announcement of the results the matter became a very delicate subject with some of us; but as the event is now history and the sore feeling worn off. I make bold to record the facts and the list of questions, which may perhaps be of use to our schools elsewhere.

     Name six plays of Shakespeare and two novels by Scott. Who was the author of Pickwick Papers, of The Biglow Papers, of Adam Bede. The Idylls of the King. Abou Ben Adhem, and Paradise Lost? In what book does the character Mordecai occur; also, Iago, Becky Sharp, King Agrippa, and Minnehaha? Name one work by Wordsworth, one by Carlyle, by Ruskin, by Matthew Arnold, and Robert Browning? These are the eighteen queries, and it is an open secret that between the young lady of the Seminary, who got the first prize, and the young man of the College, who won the "Booby," there is the harrowing divergence of fourteen correct answers to two-thirds of an answer.

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One is now the pound possessor of a neat little copy of Shakespeare's "As You Like It," and the other the humble reader of a "Literature Primer." But it wasn't fair.

     Bryn Athyn, Pa. Rumors are afloat that a very select and highly intellectual party was given on Nov. 7th, in celebration of the "coming of age" of New Church Life. We understand that nearly all, formerly or at present connected with the editorial department, were represented, either by letter or in person. Since then long and dignified church-warden pipes have appeared in the homes of some of our most conservative and sedate members. It is difficult for the uninitiated to find out much about the occasion, but we have heard that it was "a most noble affair."

     The discussion on "Democracy" was continued on Monday evening, Nov. 25th. Mr. Bostock opened the meeting by reading a paper on "Government in the New Church," presenting broad and general principles by very instructive passages from the Writings. The ideal form of government was afterwards discussed, but as it seems desirable to study the subject more deeply, it was decided to adjourn the discussion until after Christmas.

     On the morning of Thanksgiving Day, services were held, the pastor delivering a very inspiring address on the needfulness and use of giving thanks for the manifold blessings we have received. In the evening there was a very enjoyable social, the most notable of the season. One of the numbers on the program was an "Album" of living portraits most artistically represented by the young people of the Seminary and the College, and dramatically exhibited by an old-fashioned country-woman from "down East." It is hard to tell which one of the pictures created the most admiration or side-splitting laughter: the old lady herself, her father and mother, her picture as a baby, sweetly sucking her bottle; her youthful swain with the killing smile and the awful necktie, the charming bride, the blooming village beauty, the emaciated parson and his degenerate son, and the inspired old gossip, uncle Ephraim. Later in the evening there was given a series of tableaux or charades, representing, or rather, suggesting, principal events in American history. After this, refreshments were served by four young ladies in booths of red and white. The remainder of the evening was in spent in dancing.

     On Monday evening, Dec. 2d, the married folks enjoyed a card-party at Cairnwood, in honor of Mr. and Mrs. Lindsay, of Pittsburg, who were the guests of Mr. Pitcairn during their two-weeks' visit to Bryn Athyn; and on Thursday evening, December 5th, the gentlemen gave a supper and "smelter" at the "little brown study" (a philosophical resort), in honor of Dr. Wm. Cowley, of Pittsburg. On December 12th the teachers and pupils of the parish school went "en masse" to visit the Sportsman's Show in West Philadelphia. The children hugely enjoyed the wild beasts and the Indians.

     The passing away of our esteemed friend, the Rev. Henry Cowley, on December 2d, brought very near to us the realities of the other world. While we feel that he has now entered into greater blessedness, those whom he left behind claim our most tender sympathy. At the funeral, on Dec. 4th, there were many friends present, especially of the children, in spite of the severe weather. In the evening the memorial service was held, which is described on another page of the Life.

     Beside Mr. and Mrs. Lindsay, we have had the pleasure of visits from Mrs. Waelchli and Mrs. Ebert, of Allentown; Miss Hathaway, of Washington; Dr. and Miss Cowley, of Pittsburg, and Messrs. Zellner and Klein, of New York.     N. M. P.

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     Since the above was written, Mr. Glenn's illness took a turn for the worse, and he passed away, on December 22d.

     The "Principia Club" held its annual meeting,--the first meeting of the season, on November 18th. Reports from the secretary and the treasurer were read and commented upon by various speakers, who all testified to the exceptional usefulness of the meetings during the past year. At the election of officers, Rev. Charles E. Doering was nominated for various offices, with the unexpected result that he was not elected to any. This, however, was so manifestly contrary to the desires of the meeting; that the ballot was withdrawn, and he was viva voce and unanimously elected to the office of secretary, which he has filled with so much zeal and ability. Rev. Homer Synnestvedt was elected chairman, and Rev. Alfred Acton, vice-chairman. After a discussion as to the status of the membership, a committee was appointed to revise the constitution of the Club, with instructions to report at the next meeting. E. L.

     Chicago, Ill. A most enjoyable Hallowe'en party was held on October 31st at the rooms of the Church on Carroll Ave. Mr. and Mrs. Riefstahl had assumed the whole responsibility of the entertainment, which fact alone was sufficient to ensure the attendance of old and young. Many novel features were introduced and enjoyed to the utmost to the evident satisfaction of both host and hostess.

     The friends in the Church will be glad to know that the Immanuel Church in Chicago seems to be entering on an era of prosperity, and that the difficulties arising from the members living so far apart are being overcome.

     One great disappointment has occurred to us in Chicago. Mr. and Mrs. E. E. Boericke, who had arranged to move from Glenview to the city, have been called suddenly to Pittsburg. We know our Pittsburg friends will soon be able to realize thro' their gain what our loss has been. J.

     Middleport, O. This year the celebration of Thanksgiving was quite complete. In the sermon of Sunday, Nov. 25th, Mr. Klein gave the spiritual significance of the three feasts of the Israelites and dwelt especially on the Feast of Tabernacles and all the customs in regard thereto. On the morning of Thanksgiving Day there was a special service which was well attended. The offering on this occasion was devoted to the Externals of Worship and in particular to the painting of the Church. There is now every prospect for many improvements of the Church building in the spring.

     In the evening there was a harvest festival at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Klein at which forty friends were present.

     On Sunday, Dec. 1st, the services were held in the afternoon, as Mr. Klein had been called to preach in the morning at the funeral of Mr. John Grover, who at one time had attended the Church at Middleport. The services took place seven miles from town in a Free. Will Baptist Church. Of the four hundred who were present, only six belonged to the New Church, but echoes heard occasionally since, go to show that the views of the life to come set forth in the Writings were listened to with great interest and pleasure by a majority of the congregation.     T. K.

     Parkdale, Ont. On Tuesday evening. October 22d, a social, given to celebrate the coming of age of Mr. Fred Longstaff, proved to be a very pleasant occasion. Light supper was provided, and a number of toasts were honored, among these to "Our children in the Church." "The Guest of the evening." "The reception of Conjugial Partners," and "Our Hostess" (Mrs. Longstaff), including the sentiment "The Mothers, our first Friends."

     Philadelphia. On Dec. 24th and 25th we enjoyed a visit from Bishop Pendleton. He preached here on Sunday morning, and administered the rite of Confession of Faith. In the evening a reception was held at Dr. Cooper's house. The Bishop gave a very interesting description of his recent trip to the West, and the formation of the District Assemblies at Glenview and Pittsburg.

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On Monday evening the men had a gathering at Mr. Knudsen's house.

     In connection with the recently informed Young Folks' Club in Bryn Athyn, and the movement to have the young folks there and in the city unite, as far as possible, in their social affairs, it is a pleasure to note the dance given here on Dec. 12th by Dr. Bongess, which was well attended by the young people from both places.      C. H. E.

     Mr. Bowers' missionary work. After three days at the hospitable homes of our Church people, in the vicinity of Columbiana, we held services in the House of Worship at Greenford, Mahoning county, on Sunday, November 10th. The number present was twenty-eight, three of them being children. The Holy Supper was administered, fifteen persons partaking. After brief visits with the friends at Greenford, three days were passed with Mr. John P. Nye and family, at Hart's Grove, Ashtabula county.

     Sunday. November 17th, services were held at the home of Dr. and Mrs. Edward Cranch, in Erie. The attendance numbered eighteen, twelve of whom took part in the Holy Supper. A new reader and receiver of the Doctrines was present,--a young (married) man, who is still nominally a member of the Old Church. According to his expressions, the service was evidently helpful to him, he having "ears to hear." All the members of the Erie Circle were called on, and they are all warmly interested in the things of the Church. The writer is to preach in Erie again, on Sunday, December 15th.

     At the home of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph R. Kendig at Renovo, Clinton county, services were held on Sunday, November 24th. As, on account of a steady rain on that day, several of the members of the Circle could not come, the attendance was small--about ten. Six communicants.

     After this, ten days with Mr. Dallas E. Van Sickle and family. Their comfortable home, named, by the late Miss Plummer, "Pilgrim's Rest," is on the mountain, three and a half miles from North Bend. From the house, and from "the ridge" near by, the mountain scenery is very fine. Though busily employed during my stay, it was to me truly a pilgrim's rest. Mutual regret was expressed that the time of my departure came around so quickly.

     I arrived at Philipsburg, Centre county, on December 6th. Here, another of my many pleasant temporary homes is with the Shultz family,--mentioned in some of my former communications. We know of no other person interested in the New Church, in Philipsburg or immediate vicinity; but a visit with our kind friends here is always mutually agreeable and useful. JOHN E. BOWERS.

FROM OUR CONTEMPORARIES.

     UNITED STATES. The first services in the new chapel of the Theological School of the General Convention at Cambridge, Mass., were held on November 10th. A wood-cut picture of the very attractive little building is published in the Boston Globe for November 10th, from which we quote the following:

     "The Swedenborgian Society of Cambridge today holds services for the first time in its new chapel, which is one of the prettiest little church buildings in the vicinity of Boston.... The building is in the pure Gothic style, of which there are few examples even in England or on the Continent, with walls and buttresses of Brighten stone and trimmings of Indiana limestone.

     "Within the chapel is finished with high roof and dark beams and pews to match, while the windows are fitted with cathedral glass. The chancel, some to feet wide, is constructed of Indiana limestone, and has a high reredos, lectern and pulpit. An organ of rare quality occupies the transept opposite the vestry.

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     "The windows of cathedral glass were made from the special design of Prof. Warren and are very rare. A few of the old churches of France are fitted with this special kind of window, but even on the Continent they are very uncommon. The colors are not strong, but very delicate in shading, and each window is of a different pattern. But not only in the windows will the connoisseur find treasures to please him; the chancel floor is laid with tiles which are an exact reproduction of the tiles found in the Continental cathedrals of the middle ages. Down to the very minutest detail of design and construction they are the most perfect examples of this form of flooring in the country. In all parts of the chapel are carvings, each different and perfect and all having some symbolical meaning.

     "The dean of the school, Rev. Theodore F. Wright, is a leader of the Swedenborgian Society, and a scholar of wide reputation. He is president of the Associated Churches of Cambridge, which aims to cover in its work the whole city, and also of the East End Union of Cambridge, which carries on a philanthropic work among the poorer classes. The activities represent the character of Dr. Wright's local and more general interests, but his abilities are not confined to Cambridge alone. He is general secretary of the Palestine exploration fond, of which King Edward VII, is patron and the archbishop of Canterbury president."

     The Society at Providence, R. I., has adopted a new order of worship, much fuller than the former one. A white surplice has been provided for the minister, Rev. George Wheeler, and this, together with the new order of worship, is said to make the morning services very impressive.

     The Societies in Brooklyn and New York united in Thanksgiving services in the temple of the latter Society. Addresses were delivered by the Rev. Messrs. Smyth and Hoeck. The latter pointed out that interest in dogmatic theology had almost totally disappeared (even in the New Church!), and made a strong plea for the presentation of the truths of our Church in simple language, and with direct reference to the experiences of life.

     The young New Church Society at Buffalo, N. Y., is described as in a prospering condition. The Sunday School is increasing in numbers, and now counts four well-attended classes. The interest of the members of the church is quickening, and many strangers are attending the services and are reading the Writings. The Ladies Aid Society, on Nov. 29th, gave a bazaar and theatrical, followed by dancing.

     The forty-eighth annual meeting of the Ohio Association was held at Cleveland, October 8th-14th. Beside the members of the Societies in Cleveland and Lakewood, there were present forty visitors, mostly isolated receivers. The Rev. Messrs. Mercer. Browne, Kirk, Gladish, Eaten, and Schreck took part in the proceedings. Rev. John Goddard was re-elected president of the Association, though it has not yet been definitely decided whether he is to return to Ohio or not. Rev. M. G. Browne was elected "Acting President." Most of the time during the meetings was devoted to spiritual instruction. Mr. Mercer lectured on Swedenborg's Science, the correspondences of Nature, the Human Body, and the Divine Human; Mr. Gladish on "the Development of the Individual and of the Race," Mr. Browne on "the New Apostleship," and Mr. Schreck on "New Church Education" and "the Hebrew Language;" the latter was illustrated by a chart displaying the characters of the Hebrew alphabet. One of those present reports "We all learned enough to appreciate the importance of reading the Word in the original, and came away with the desire to know more. Throughout the meetings there was a delightful sphere of sociability and appreciation of the program."

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     The Illinois Association held its sixty-second meeting in the "Church of the Divine Humanity" at Englewood, Chicago. It was the largest meeting held for many years and was "pervaded by a spirit of earnestness and hopefulness which promises better things for the future." There were present eight ministers and twenty-two delegates. Among the visitors we notice the names of Rev. N. D. Pendleton, Mr. Swain Nelson, and a number of other members of the Immanuel Church.

     The Rev. J. S. Saul was elected Presiding Minister of the Association, in succession to Rev. L. P. Mercer, who had offered his resignation as no longer residing within the boundaries of the Association. A resolution was adopted placing on record the deep appreciation of the Association of the long, faithful, and effective service of Mr. Mercer as the Presiding Minister.

     Several conferences and discussions of spiritual things were held during the meetings. The conference on the Education of Children in the Church, which was opened by an eloquent and powerful address by Rev. E. J. E. Schreck, especially made a very deep impression the large audience. Mr. Schreck emphasized the fact that the children are the Lord's and not ours, and in educating them we are not to consult the world nor our own pleasure. "Why do we educate our children? for fame? That they may get along in the world? The Lord has a higher end, and we should co-operate with Him in educating them for heaven. As we cannot have loyal citizens unless we insinuate knowledges which will create respect for the flag, so we cannot expect children to be loyal to the Church, unless we insinuate knowledges and affection for it. All this leads to the need of parochial schools in the New Church."

     In the discussion that ensued, Mr. Mercer, Col. R. Williams, and Mr. King warmly endorsed the principles of the address. Rev. E. D. Daniels, however, defended the public schools, on the ground of patriotism. "The New Church owes a duty to the public schools. If all the churches had their own schools, where would be our country?" Rev. N. D. Pendleton pointed out that there was no violation to the principles of our country in having parochial schools, as it is founded upon the truth that all should be in freedom.

     The Iowa General Society of the New Church held its annual meeting at Lennox, near Norway, Ia., on September 28th, 29th. A resolution was adopted, urging the formation of reading circles and societies, wherever there are groups of receivers within the State. The authorization of Prof. W. M. Martin as a licensed preacher was appointed. Rev. J. B. Parmelee was elected President. The Executive Committee reported the publication of a small paper, The Echo, as a means of connection between the isolated receivers. The meeting was disappointingly small.

     CANADA. Mr. Peter Claassen, of Rosthern, Saskatchewan, writes to correct the statement in our November issue, that he was the one who introduced the Doctrines here, or that he is the leader of the Rosthern Society. "The Doctrines of the New Church were not introduced by me, but by some Mennonite who had read the Writings of Swedenborg. I am only residing in this town, engaged in literary work in the German and Russian languages. Our Society has not a leader at present, but hopes to get one.

     GREAT BRITAIN. The New Church Orphanage held its annual meeting in London on October 22d. In his opening address, the president (Mr. Clowes Bayley) regretted that the resources of the Institution did not always enable them to place their orphans "within reach of a New Church home and school." As a rule this was done, but he thought there should be no exceptions to the rule.

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The report of the Board has much to say of the care taken of the children. With a view to making New Churchmen of its wards, the Board has lately inaugurated the plan of appointing committees of two to each ward during their last year, who shall ascertain their inclinations and capabilities and, where possible, shall continue a supervision over them until they come of age. Mr. E. G. Dow after warmly supporting this plan referred to the "great leakage of our young people" and stated that the work of the Orphanage will be judged by the future feeling of its wards to the New Church. Rev. J. Ashby briefly reviewed the work of the Orphanage. During the twenty years of its existence, it had adopted 92 children at a total cost of L9,340, and it was now maintaining 25 at an annual cost of L570. He spoke at some length of the duty of New Churchmen to support this work, the highest reason for which was that the wards might be led to the New Church.

     Rev. G. W. Wall thought that as their first duty was to care for New Church orphans, so should such orphans be brought up in New Church families or "with those in such sympathy with the Church that they will be instructed in the Doctrines." Rev. W. E. Hurt recommended to the lady "visitors" that on their visits they see that, not only the children are taught the doctrines, but that the guardians "attend our churches." In many cases the guardians did this, but he had special reasons for speaking as he had done.

     The election of Mr. Cunliffe, a member of the Accrington Society, to the mayoralty of Accrington was the occasion of an official visit to the Church by the mayor and corporation on Sunday, November 10th. The building was crowded to its utmost capacity.

     At the anniversary services of the Bath Society, an "interesting departure" was observed in the delivery of addresses by Old Church Ministers. After reading this, we were not surprised to mad, among the remarks of the pastor (Rev. H. G. Drmmmond), that "there was a movement among the Churches,-a broadening movement, which the New Church hailed with no little satisfaction." But Mr. Drummond is not quite consistent, for he adds "much if not all of this movement is being carried on without any sacrifice of principle whatsoever." If this is the case me cannot see much cause for "satisfaction."

     The coming year will witness several changes in the location of ministers. Rev. E. C. Newall, who has been pastor at Dalton during the past nine years, has accepted a call from the Society at Radcliffe; Rev. J. F. Buss has resigned the pastorate of the Glasgow (Cathedral Street) Society, his engagement there to terminate in January, 1902; and about the same time the Rev. A. Stones will sever his connection with the Keighly Society, which he has ministered to for the past three years.

     The Rev. T. Child, of London (Kensington), has arranged a new "form of services" which is to be tried by his Society for three months. The service is divided into four parts "intended to express the process of regeneration," viz.: humiliation, instruction, praise and hope. The rubric is placed at the end of the printed service in order that "only the actual words of worship may be before the people." An "important feature" of the service is that "the (lay) reader is not looked upon as an assistant to the minister, but as the leader to the worshipers who respond to the minister, representing the Lord."

     The Thames-Ditton Society has adopted unusual measures to provide itself with a place of worship. "A certain blacksmith's shop which has been unoccupied suddenly assumed an animated appearance. People, who with caution approached and peeped through cracks in the walls, observed five or six grimy figures, who with pick, shovel and hammer were busy removing all signs of the horseshoe profession."

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In a few weeks' time the "shop" was converted into a hall capable of seating about sixty people. All the work, including the making of the seats, has been done by members and friends of the Society. The opening services were held on November 17th, the Rev. W. O'Mant officiating, as the Society has no resident pastor. These services were noticed by the London Times in its "Ecclesiastical Intelligence."

     SWEDEN. The verdict in the lawsuit of Rev. Albert Bjorck versus the "Swedish Congregation of the New Church" was delivered in favor of the latter on November 4th. The plaintiff, Mr. Bjorck, is declared "non-suited," as not having produced any legal reasons for his demands that the Court should annul the resolution of February 14th, by which he was excluded from the legalized body of the New Church. The plaintiff is further directed to pay all the costs of the lawsuit. According to the latest information, Mr. Bjorck has now carried his case to the Supreme Court of Sweden. It is extremely unlikely that the latter will reverse the verdict of the lower Court.

     Our American readers, who may think of Sweden only is an Arctic wilderness of snow and ice on the latitude of Greenland, may be surprised to hear of the experience of Pastor Manby, while on a missionary tour last summer. While he was lecturing in the city of Karlskrona (the chief naval station of Sweden), "the heat in the hall was almost unbearable." One of the New Church friends, taking pity on the sweltering missionary, carried up a great tub filled with ice, and placed it by the pulpit. This effected a change in the temperature, but its benefits "extended only to the one leg of the speaker which was next to the tub. The sensation was not one of unmixed pleasure, and I had to withdraw from the immediate neighborhood."

     AUSTRIA-HUNGARY. The Society in Budapest held its annual meeting on October 27th. It was decided to remove the place of worship to a more central location in the city. Mr. Julius Spada was requested to conduct services, once a month, in the Hungarian language, as all do not understand the usual weekly services, which are held in German. Mr. Franz Krupka presented to the Society his entire library of New Church Books. The effort to establish a free New Church library in the capital of Hungary should be encouraged. Donations of German, French, and English works will be thankfully received by Mr. Karl Albrecht, the leader of the Society. At present only one of the Writings, the Doctrine of Life, has been translated into the Magyar tongue.

     GERMANY. The annual meeting of the German "Swedenborg Verein" was held in Stuttgart on October 20th. The treasurer reported an income during the year of 1487 marks, of which 1264 marks had been expended. The total property of the Society amounts to 17.482 M. Slight changes in the By-Laws were made at the meeting. It was resolved to assist in the publication of the Spiritual Diary in German. (Similar resolutions have been passed by the "Missions Verein" and the "German Synod" in America. It is to be hoped that some effective method may now be adopted by which the manuscript,--a translation by the late Prof. William Phirsch, and at present preserved by the Academy of the New Church,--may soon be published.)

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Notice 1902

Notice       N. D. PENDLETON       1902


Announcements.



     The members and friends of the General Church of the New Jerusalem, residing within the District of the Chicago Assembly, are earnestly requested to communicate with the undersigned with a view to establishing a closer union between the members. The hope is that such communications may, in time, and whenever possible, lead to an interchange of visits. N. D. PENDLETON,
Secretary of the Chicago District Assembly, Glenview, Ill.
Services in Brooklyn 1902

Services in Brooklyn              1902

     The services of the Brooklyn circle of the General Church of the New Jerusalem will be resumed at the L. P. Business College, South 8th street, near Driggs avenue, on January 5th, and thereafter on the first Sunday in every month.
Now Ready 1902

Now Ready              1902

     The annual Calendar of the General Church of the New Jerusalem, containing directions for Daily Lessons from the Word and the Writings of the New Church for the year 1902. Price, 10 cents.
ACADEMY BOOK ROOM, Huntingdon Valley, Pa.

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ROBERT M. GLENN 1902

ROBERT M. GLENN              1902


NEW CHURCH LIFE.
Vol. XXII.          February, 1902.               No. 2
     A LIFE SKETCH.

     Robert Morris Glenn, who was born at Philadelphia on November 27th, 1849, and died at Bryn Athyn, Pa., on December 22d, 1901, was the son of Benjamin F. Glenn, a well-known member of the New Church in Philadelphia, and grandson of Robert Glenn, one of the founders of the Society in Frankford, Pa. Of Robert M. Glenn it may well be said that he was a faithful embodiment of those great principles of New Church thought and life of which the Academy is the present exponent, but which have been recognized by certain New Church men since the very beginning of the Church. The application of these principles, by his immediate ancestors and by himself, made him what he was, in character and life,-a thorough-going, typical, exemplary New Church man.

     Born of two generations of earnest members of the Church, having hereditary New Church tendencies bred in his very bones, so to speak, and reared from earliest infancy in a genuine New Church home, he furthermore enjoyed what was then the extraordinary good fortune of receiving a distinctively New Church education. When seven years of age he entered the school which had been established by the Philadelphia Society in Cherry street,-the precursor of the Academy schools; he thus came under the direct influence of that master of New Church education, the Rev. W. H. Benade, and he remained here until the school was discontinued, in the year 1863. After completing his education in a private academy, he entered into the real-estate business of his father, which, on the death of the latter in 1883, he took over and developed until it became one of the best known establishments of its kind in the city of Philadelphia.

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     It would be difficult to say when Mr. Glenn first began to take an active interest in the uses of the Church. As a pupil in the day school and in the Sunday school, he was as active in youthful ways, as he afterwards became in the more general affairs of the Church. While yet a boy he joined the choir of the Cherry Street Society, and after a time he stepped into his father's place as choir leader. As such he continued to serve in the Advent Society, from 1878 till 1887, and afterwards as the musical trainer and leader of the Society at Huntingdon Valley, from 1895 to the time of his death. His love for music was, indeed, one of his most marked characteristics, and he was always ready to use his great musical talents for the benefit of the Church.

     Fully indoctrinated in the principles of the Academy, he was chosen an associate member on August 29th, 1882, and soon rose into prominence in the uses of that body, as well as in those of the General Church of Pennsylvania. As a member of those organizations, it was his lot to pass through many spiritual and ecclesiastical struggles, and he used to remark that from his early youth there never was a conflict in the Church in Philadelphia but what it was his fate to be in the midst of it. And as it was with him, so it had been with his father and grandfather. Mild and courteous gentlemen though they were, they were none the less valiant members of the Church Militant,--fighters, not from the love of combat, but from a firm, unyielding loyalty to the Truth as revealed by the Lord,--a loyalty before which considerations of merely external peace had to take a secondary place.

     After his marriage with Miss Cara Starkey, in 1884, Mr. Glenn became more than ever active in the general lay-uses of the Church. He served as secretary of the Council of the Laity of the General Church from 1885 to 1888, and as treasurer of the Academy from 1887 to 1895. In the latter year, when the Academy underwent a thorough external reorganization, Mr. Glenn was elected president of the Corporation and of the Board of Directors of the Academy, and in this position he rendered most valuable services during the great trouble in 1897. He was also in the front rank of those who took part in the organization of the General Church of the New Jerusalem, and devotedly served this body as a member of its Executive Committee and General Council.

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Mr. Glenn, in fact, was one of those few laymen who have been willing and able to serve the Church directly and continuously, and he devoted to this service his chief interest and energies.

     Mr. Glenn's unstinted willingness to serve, in the little things as well as in the greater affairs of the Church, was evident in his life as a member of the local societies to which he belonged,--the Society of the Advent, the Church of the Academy, and the Society at Huntingdon Valley. It was in the latter place, especially, that his devotion and his talents found a fair field. Having relinquished his flourishing business in Philadelphia in 1895, he removed with his family to Huntingdon Valley in order to take charge of the management of the Cairnwood estate, and to render service, also, in the planning and general arranging of the New Church settlement there, now known as Bryn Athyn. The external features of this settlement, the arrangement of roads, trees and shrubberies, and the general architectural and landscape effects, no less than the new school-building and dormitories of the Academy, are lasting monuments of his artistic taste, his ripe experience, and watchful care.

     But more precious to his brethren than these external works is the memory of Mr. Glenn as a man, and brother, as a lover of the spiritual goods and truths of the New Church. A man of remarkable clearheadedness, a critical, analytical and logical thinker, a cool and conservative counselor undisturbed by personal prejudices or appeals to merely natural sentiment, he was at the same time a person of warm sympathies, quickly responsive to anything that was spiritually rational and rationally good. As a loving husband and wise father; as a fine New Church gentleman, courteous to all, but especially considerate towards the gentle sex; as a faithful friend and generous host, as a genial companion, bright, sociable and humorous,--and, above all, as an humble, open-minded and eager lover of the Truth, he was a pillar of the Church, a comfort to his brethren, an inspiring example to the younger generation, and a promise of the kind of men the New Church will rear in the future.

     In the decease of such a man, the bodies of the Church with which he was connected have sustained a loss which will be long and deeply felt.

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Yet, though his voice will be heard no more in our councils and assemblies, we have the comforting assurance that his absence after all is only an appearance, and that the influences of his ripe understanding and great, loyal love will still be at work, as busily as ever, but with immeasurably greater wisdom and strength, for that holy cause to which his life was devoted while on earth.

     A sketch of the life of Robert M. Glenn would be incomplete without some account of his parents and grandparents, to whom reference has been made in the preceding pages. The history of this family has been remarkable, not in any external sense, but as illustrative of the teaching that "the offspring born from two who are in love truly conjugial derive from their parents the conjugial of good and truth, from which they have the inclination and faculty, if a son, to perceive the things which are of wisdom; if a daughter, to love the things which wisdom teaches." (C. L., 202.) We cannot judge, of course, as to who are in "love truly conjugial," but this we know, "that no others will appropriate to themselves this love than those who will be received by the Lord into the New Church which is the New Jerusalem. (C. L., 43, 534)

     Placing the above teachings side by side, it becomes evident that from New Church marriages, supplemented by New Church education, there will rise up New Church families which, in an ever increasing measure, will inherit the inclination and faculty to perceive and love "the things of wisdom," that is, the spiritual things of the Church, of Heaven, and of the Lord. If to these considerations we add the observation, that such families will desire the birth of numerous children, while in the Old Church the horrible desire for few children is steadily increasing,--what a vista this opens as to the future of the New Church!

     Robert Glenn, the first New Church man of his family, was born in America in the year 1788. He resided in the neighborhood of Frankford, Pa., where he spent his life as manager of a large estate. It has not been ascertained when or how he became acquainted with the Doctrines of the New Church, but his name first appears (in the early journals of the General Convention) in connection with the congregation of Free Will Baptists at Frankford, which, in 1820, came over in a body to the New Church, together with their pastor, the Rev. Thomas Boyle.

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When Mr. Boyle died, in 1823, Robert Glenn was chosen to officiate as leader in worship, and he continued in this capacity until the Rev. James Seddon became pastor of the Society, in 1838. The Church in Frankford had a chequered career in the early days. Several "splits" took place, and Mr. Seddon had a habit of resigning the pastorate, every now and then. Mr. Glenn, however, held fast steadily with the original Society, and it always fell upon him to resume his place as leader during the various periods of interregnum. He was also one of the founders of the first general organization of the New Church in Pennsylvania, the "Pennsylvania Association," which was instituted in the year 1845. As to the estimate in which he was held by the members of this body, we may judge from the resolution which was adopted by the Pennsylvania Association on his death, in 1854:

     "Whereas, Since our last meeting, it has pleased our Heavenly Father, in His Infinite Wisdom, to remove to the spiritual world one of our most esteemed and valued members. Be it Resolved, That in the decease of our brother, Robert Glenn, we have sustained a loss not easily repaired. Associated with us at our first meeting, and attending most of our subsequent ones, we miss his cheerful countenance and his friendly greeting, and we desire to cherish his memory among our most pleasing recollections."

     Mr. Robert Glenn is described as a staunch and sturdy New Church man of the primitive, uncompromising type, a man whose whole life and interest were centered in the Church. He was a firm believer in the Divine Authority of the new Revelation, and in the necessity of a strict observance of order in the external things of the Church. Like his son and grandson, he was a person of musical abilities and artistic tastes, and was greatly interested in the arrangement of ecclesiastical architecture and decorations according to the laws of spiritual correspondence. He was also a believer in marriage within the Church. His first wife, nee Mary Morris, was a devoted and intelligent member of the New Church. After death he married Miss Sarah Yerkes, who was also an enthusiastic New Church woman. By each of these wives he had several children, all of whom were brought up in the faith and life of the New Church.

     The thought occurs here,--Where, now, are the descendants of the other early members of the New Church in Philadelphia, the associates of Robert Glenn? Among the present active members of the Church we look in vain for the family names that were prominent at that period.

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Are the Glenns the only ones remaining among us from the original stock of Philadelphia New Church men, and, if so, why have the others left?

     We come now to the representative of the second generation of this New Church family, Mr. Benjamin F. Glenn, whose name is even more conspicuous than that of his father in the chronicles of the New Church. Born on his father's farm, near Frankford, on April 27th, 1815, Benjamin F. Glenn was carefully reared in the sphere of the New Church, and was early imbued with a knowledge of its fundamental principles. When a young man, he became associated with the Rev. lames Robinson, an ordained minister of the New Church, who, in the year 1829, had emigrated to America from Derby, England, and who had settled near Haddington, four or five miles west of Philadelphia, where he founded a little colony of English New Church people, naming the place "Darby," after his English home. Here he raised up a Society of the New Church, and also established a mill or factory, we do not know of what kind. Mr. B. F. Glenn secured a position as accountant at Mr. Robinson's establishment and remained with him some six or seven years. While here, in 1840, he married Miss Mary Aitken,--a sister of our dear old friend. Mr. William B. Aitken,--and in her he found a life-partner whose memory is still vivid among us,--not, indeed, as the charming young bride that once she was, but as the still more charming and venerable "mother of Israel," whom most of us have known only as "gran'ma Glenn."

     Soon after his marriage, Mr. R. F. Glenn opened a dry goods business in Philadelphia, and united with the Philadelphia First Society, then worshiping in a hall on Locust street, above 8th street, under the pastoral guidance of the Rev. Richard De Charms.

     Mr. Glenn soon became very intimately acquainted with Mr. De Charms, his early training having prepared him for the kind of teaching that Mr. De Charms was in the habit of giving,--New Church doctrine, pure and undiluted, profound, yet clear and distinct. Mr. De Charms, soon after his return to Philadelphia from Cincinnati, in 1840, was instrumental in organizing The Central Convention of the New Jerusalem, as a protest against the unsound and arbitrary spirit then prevailing in the General Convention.

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In this new movement for greater freedom and greater loyalty to the Writings, Mr. B. F. Glenn joined heart and soul, and he soon became a leading spirit in the activities of the Central Convention.

     Mr. B. F. Glenn, unlike most of the members of the Central Convention, remained faithful to the original principles of that body, and adhered to the ecclesiastical ship until, in 1852, it sank beneath the waves of time. And afterwards he remained the loyal supporter of his spiritual teacher, Mr. De Charms, throughout all malignant fortunes aiding him financially, and supporting him by warm sympathy, until Mr. De Charms finally found his eternal rest, in the year 1863.

     In the meantime, Mr. Glenn had become intimately associated with one who was to Mr. De Charms what Elisha was to Elijah,-the Rev. William H. Benade, who, in 1846, had become the pastor of the Philadelphia First Society.

     Thus, when the great conflict in that Society came on in the year 1854, Mr. Glenn was one of the principal supporters of Mr. Benade in his doctrinal issues with the majority of the Society, he was also one of the foremost in the organization of the new Society which now erected a temple and school-house for itself on Cherry street. In the supervision of the work of building that structure, Mr. Glenn was as active as afterwards was his son in supervising the building of the present new home of the Academy. And, like his son, he always took a special interest in the development of the musical part of the Church services. He had been the leader in the choir of the Philadelphia First Society, and he served in the same important use to the Society on Cherry street. And, finally, like his father and like his son, he was deeply interested in the use of New Church education, being among the first to send his children to the distinctively New Church School which Mr. Benade established at Cherry street, in 1856, and supporting this use most liberally during the period of its existence. Mr. Glenn, at this time, was engaged in real estate business and derived from it a good income, but it is said that his self-sacrificing zeal for the uses of the Church was at times greater than prudence should justly dictate. His heart, his purse, and his home were ever open to members of the New Church, and he took a special pleasure in assisting struggling young men of the Church into positions of usefulness.

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     After the Central Convention had been dissolved, in 1852, and after the Cherry Street Society had joined the General Convention, in 1857, Mr. B. F. Glenn took a very active part in the work of the Pennsylvania Association. While sympathizing most heartily with the aims and principles of the Academy or the New Church (which had been organized in 1876), he never became a member of that body, as his failing health at this time prevented any active participation in the meetings and uses of the Church.

     In concluding, we quote the following lines from the pen of his life-long friend, Mr. Benade, which appeared in this journal on the death of Mr. B. F.. Glenn, in 1883:

     "Firm in faith, Mr. Glenn was always to be found among those who believed it to be the first duty of the men of the New Church to acknowledge the Lord in His Second Coming in the Writings of the Church. This firmness of conviction in the Lord's presence in the Doctrines of the Church gave to Mr. Glenn's life that earnest devotion to what he sincerely believed to be the best interests of the Church, which we note as the marked characteristic of his life among us. Amidst all earthly trials, he held steadfast to his faith, and was ever ready to do his very best for the promotion of the Church."

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MR. HARTLEY AND "THE NINE QUESTIONS." 1902

MR. HARTLEY AND "THE NINE QUESTIONS."              1902

     THE Rev. Thomas Hartley, A. M., by whom the questions contained in the following pages were proposed to Swedenborg, was a clergyman of the Church of England and rector of Winwick, Northamptonshire. Some years before he knew anything of the Writings of Swedenborg, his works, particularly a volume of sermons published in 1754, indicate that he had a strong sense of the corruption and falsity of the Christian Church, and some suspicion that the time of the Second Advent would shortly be at hand. In 1865, having become more or less attracted by the teachings and life of the Quakers, he entered into a correspondence with Mr. William Cookworthy, a prominent Quaker, who had been for some years previous a receiver of Swedenborg's Writings. Through this correspondence Mr. Hartley (in 1866, at the age of 59 years) was introduced to the Doctrines of the New Church. He seems to have at once and wholly accepted them.

     In the summer of 1869 Mr. Hartley, accompanied by his friends, Mr. Cookworthy and Dr. Messiter, paid a personal visit to Swedenborg. The next day, having returned to his own home, he wrote him a letter in which, after expressing his complete acceptance of the Doctrines, he asked some theological questions, and concluded with the request that he be furnished with some facts concerning Swedenborg's life, his titles, offices and honors, etc., with a view to their being used by Dr. Messiter and himself in defending him in case of an attack being made on his name and fame. The part of Swedenborg's answer which dealt with the last point was published by Mr. Hartley in the same year, under the title Responsum ad Epistolam ab Amico ad me Scriptam. (London, 4to, 3 pp.)

     There was some further correspondence between Mr. Hartley and Swedenborg--principally of a theological character--before the latter left London for Sweden in the autumn of 1869. After his return in 1771 Mr. Hartley paid him many visits, maintaining an intimate friendship with him until the aged revelator passed away in March, 1772.

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     After Swedenborg's death Mr. Hartley, having retired from his official duties in the Church of England occupied himself with the work of studying the Writings and of translating them into the English language. He is the author of the first English translations of De Commericio Animae et Corporis and De Caelo et Inferno, to both of which works are wrote long and interesting prefaces which have teen much admired in the New Church. He also wrote a little tract on the Doctrine of the Trinity. He passed away from this life on December 10, 1784, at the ripe age of 77 years.

     Further particulars respecting Mr. Hartley's life may be found in a very interesting biography of him published in New Church Life for 1895, pp. 135 and 151.

     As to the time when the Nine Questions were asked and answered, we can judge only from the internal evidence afforded by the questions themselves. Swedenborg in the answers to questions II and VII refers his readers to Vera Christiana Religio. This work was published at the end of June, 1771, and as Swedenborg died in March, 1772, Mr. Hartley must have written his letter containing the "Nine Questions" at some time between those two dates. Dr. R. L. Tafel indeed states that the Nine Questions "consisted originally of portions of letters exchanged between Thomas Hartley and Emanuel Swedenborg." But he refers to no authority for this statement, and it is hardly borne out by the Nine Questions themselves. In his answer to question II, Swedenborg refers Mr. Hartley to "the things which will be said below in answer to the 6th question." From this there can be no doubt that questions 1-6 were asked categorically and at one and the same time; and that the remaining three were also asked in the same letter, seems to be an inevitable conclusion, especially when we consider the words added at the end of the 9th question, words which very fittingly close the whole series.

     The "answers" remained in Mr. Hartley's exclusive possession for thirteen years; but in 1784, Shortly before his death, he prepared a MS. copy of the questions, together with Swedenborg's replies, and sent it to Robert Hindmarsh, who printed it at his own expense in the following year. (London, 1785, 8 pp., 4to.). This is the only Latin edition of the tract which has thus far been published. In 1786 Mr. Hindmarsh prepared and published an English translation, which subsequently was reissued in two editions, the last of which appeared in 1802.

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In the 4th English edition (London, 1826), Mr. Hindmarsh's translation was revised--though not always improved upon--and was issued for the first time as an appendix to the Doctrine of the New Jerusalem concerning the Lord. This edition has been the model of every subsequent English and American edition, both as regards the translation, which was never altered in any way, and as regards the position of the tract at the end of the Doctrine of the Lord. The 5th English edition was published in 1846, the 6th in 1876, and the 7th and last in 1889. There have been four American editions, the first of which was published at Baltimore, 1792; the second at Boston, 1830, the third at New York, 1862, and the fourth, which was printed from the plates of the third, in 1873.

     The Nine Questions has also been translated into French by M. Le Boys des Guays (St. Amand, 1850), and into Danish by Baron Dirckinck Holmfeld (Copenhagen, 1856).

     But although there have been so many editions of the Nine Questions, the work is nevertheless comparatively little known to the members of the New Church, probably owing to the fact that it has never been issued in English as a separate work since 1802. For this reason it is now included in the present collection of "Minor Works by Swedenborg." ALFRED ACTON.

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NINE QUESTIONS CONCERNING THE TRINITY, ETC., WITH SWEDENBORG'S ANSWERS THERETO.

QUESTION I.
1. In what sense did the Lord call Himself the Son of man, if He took from the mother only the flesh and not the Rational Soul? Does the human sonship respect only the human flesh?

ANSWER.
2. The Lord called Himself the Son of Man because He was the Word or the Divine Truth even as to the Human. For Son of Man in the spiritual sense signifies the truth of the Church drawn from the Word. The like was signified by Prophet, because the prophets taught truths from the Word. Wherefore the Lord, who was in a supereminent degree the Prophet and also the Word and hence the Divine Truth, called Himself as to the Human the Son of Man. Hence it is, that throughout the Prophets and also in David, where the vastation of truth in the Church is treated of, it is said that the son of man shall not tarry there; and hence also it is, that the prophets themselves were also called sons of man, as Ezekiel (Ezek. II., 3, 5, 8; III., 3, 4, 10, 17, 25; and very frequently in the succeeding chapters.) and also Daniel. That this is the case has been shown from many passages adduced in The Angelic Wisdom concerning the Lord, (The title under which Swedenborg published this work is Doctrina Nova Ecclesia de Domino. It is the first of the Four Leading Doctrines. [Trans.]) which work, if it be at hand, may be consulted.

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QUESTION II.
3. Had the Lord His rational soul from Jehovah the Father, to which was united the Divine Esse whence He became truly God and truly man?

ANSWER.
4. The Lord from eternity or Jehovah was Divine Love and Divine Wisdom; and He then had the Divine Celestial and the Divine Spiritual, but not the Divine Natural before He assumed the Human; and as the rational is predicated solely of the Celestial and Spiritual Natural, therefore Jehovah the Lord also put on the Divine Rational. Before the assumption of the Human He had a Divine Rational, but by influx into the angelic heaven, and, when He manifested Himself in the world, by an angel whom He infilled with His Divinity; for the purely Divine Essence, which, as was said, was the purely Divine Celestial and Divine Spiritual Essence, transcends the rational, both angelic and human, but it was given by influx. What its nature was may be concluded from the answer to the sixth question below. Luther and Melancthon teach, that in Christ, man is God and God man, and this is also in accordance with the Sacred Scripture, see True Christian Religion, n. 137; but Calvin denied this, and merely affirmed that Christ is only God and man.

QUESTION III.
5. Was there not always a Trinity in the Divine Nature, to be understood in this manner, namely, Divine Love, Divine Wisdom the vivifying Spirit or Holy Proceeding?

ANSWER.
6. The Divine Trinity in One Person is to be understood as Soul, Body and proceeding Operation, which together make one essence; for the one is from the other, consequently the one is of the other. There is likewise a trinity in every individual man which together makes one person, namely, soul, body and proceeding operation. But in man that trinity is finite, for man is only an organ of life; whereas in the Lord the Trinity is Infinite and thus Divine, for the Lord is Life itself even as to the Human, as He Himself teaches in John, Chap. v, 26; Chap. xiv, 6, and also elsewhere.

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QUESTION IV.
7. Does not the Son by whom Jehovah is said to have created the worlds (Heb. i and xi) signify the same as the Divine Wisdom in Jeremiah x, 12; li, 15, so that the Essential Wisdom or Logos of God it firsts is now the Truth or Logos of God in lasts?

ANSWER.
8. That the Lord, that is, the Word or the Divine Truth by which all things were made that were made, and by which the world was created (John i, 3, 10) was the Divine Wisdom which with the Divine Love makes one Divine Essence thus one and the same God, is a natural consequence For Divine Wisdom is also Divine Truth, inasmuch as all things of Wisdom are truths; wisdom produces nothing but truths, for it is the containant of truths. Thus [the doctrine is] in complete agreement with Jeremiah x, 12. The same is also understood by the statement in David in Psalm xxxiii, 6; the spirit [or breath] of the mouth also is Wisdom, and the Word there is Divine Love and Divine Wisdom together, for it is said, and God was the Word. (John i, 1.)

QUESTION V.
9. Is not the Holy Spirit in the New Testament the same as the Spirit of God in the Old Testament, with this only difference, that before the Lord's incarnation it proceeded from the Divine Esse or Jehovah immediately or mediately by angels, while after the incarnation it proceeded through the Son or the Divine Human?

10. Is not the Holy Spirit the same as the Sphere of God?

ANSWER.
11. The Spirit of God and the Holy Spirit are two distinct things. The Spirit of God did not, nor could it operate on man except imperceptibly, whereas the Holy Spirit which proceeds solely from the Lord operates on man perceptibly and makes man able to comprehend spiritual truths naturally. For to His Divine Celestial and Divine Spiritual the Lord united also the Divine Natural by which He operates from the former. Moreover, Holy in the Word is predicated only of Divine Truth, thus of the Lord who is the Divine Truth both in the celestial and spiritual sense and also in the natural sense. Wherefore it is said that the Lord alone is holy (Apoc. xv, 3, 4; see also Apocalypse Revealed, n. 173); and it is also said that the Holy Spirit was not yet, because Jesus was not yet glorified. (John vii, 39.)

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12. The Holy Spirit is the same as the Divine Sphere, if by the latter is understood the Divine Love and the Divine Wisdom, which two proceed from Jehovah the Lord out of the sun of the angelic heaven [and make the sphere of heaven], in like manner as heat and light proceed out of the sun of the natural world and make its sphere. For the heat proceeding from the sun of the angelic heaven is in its essence Love, and the light from that sun is in its essence Wisdom, to which two the heat and light proceeding from the sun of the natural world correspond.

QUESTION VI.
13. Was the Divine Human of Jehovah before the incarnation a Person subsisting by itself as the Existere, Form or Body of God; or was it an angelic form occasionally assumed for the purpose of manifestation?

14. Since the Divine Trinity is in the Person of the Lord, does it not follow, that the Divine Human before the incarnation was different from the Human which now is after the incarnation?

ANSWER.

15. Before the incarnation there was not any Divine Human except a representative one by some angel whom Jehovah the Lord infilled with His Spirit, as was said above; and because it was representative, therefore all things of the Church at that time were representatives and as it were shadows. But after the incarnation representatives ceased, like the shades of evening or night at the rising of the sun. But the representative Human in which Jehovah then presented Himself in the world, before His actual advent was not of such efficacy that it could spiritually enlighten men; wherefore enlightenment was then effected only by means of types and figures.

QUESTION VII.
16. Is not the most holy Trinity properly said to be one and the same Lord under three characters, distinctions of office or relations towards men, namely, as Creator, Redeemer and Sanctifier-as Father, Son and Holy Spirit--as Divine Esse, Divine Human and Holy proceeding; and not as three persons, from whom there would necessarily be three Gods?

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ANSWER.
17. The most holy Trinity must be perceived in one Person, as Divine Esse, Divine Human and Holy proceeding, thus as soul, body and power or operation thence, exactly as described in the Memorable Relation inserted in The True Christian Religion (n. 188). As productions from these there follow in order Creation, Redemption and Regeneration; for Creation is the attribute of the Divine Esse, Redemption the attribute of the Divine Human from the Divine Esse, and Regeneration the attribute of the Holy Spirit which is the primary power or operation of the Divine Human from the Divine Esse, according to what has been brought forward in The True Christian Religion, n. 153, 154, 155.

QUESTION VIII.
18. It is said in I Corinthians xv, 45, The first man Adam was made a living soul, etc., and in the genealogy in Luke iii he is placed first after God and it is said, Who was the son of God. Does not the Church called Adam prove the contrary?

ANSWER.
19. In the genealogy in Luke it is said that Adam was of God, that is, created by God, and not the son of God.

20. If there was no man called Noah, how comes it to be said in Ezekiel xiv, 14, Though these three, Noah, Daniel and Job, etc.

I lay no great stress on these questions (says Mr. Hartley) still my mind leads me to propose them.

ANSWER.
21. The reason why Noah is mentioned in Ezekiel xiv is because he was mentioned in Genesis; and hence, in the Prophet, Noah signifies the same as in Moses, namely, as a man with his three sons he is significative of the succeeding Church; on which subject see what is said in the Arcana Coelestia.                         [THE END.]

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RETROSPECT OF THE PAST YEAR 1902

RETROSPECT OF THE PAST YEAR              1902

     THE first year of the Twentieth Century is now a thing of the past, and a new year has commenced, a new link in the chain of years which are to carry the Lord's New Church from the days of little things onward to an endless future of ever-increasing usefulness, wisdom, happiness and glory. "It is granted to man to behold the Divine Providence from behind, but not in the face." (D. P., 187) It is useful, therefore, at the end of a year, to cast a glance behind us in order to observe the course in which the merciful Providence of the Lord has led the Church in the immediate past. Such retrospection will afford opportunity for much reflection and self-examination. It will make apparent the littleness and weakness of our own love and faith and work, but it will serve also for encouragement, for increased confidence in the actual presence of Him who holds the helm and steers the course of the Church, in the Universe and in the individual. Watching, day by day, the growth of a tree, or of a child, or of a regenerating man, or of the Church in general, we can notice but little than progress; nay, at times, there seems to be retrogression rather than development. But when we glance backward, and compare present conditions with past states; when we measure things by years, and decades, and centuries, the hand of Providence and the evidences of growth and progress become manifest. The higher the species,--plant, animal, or man,--the slower its growth. Thus also with the Churches. The New Church, which is to endure for ever, will be unparalelled in History as to slowness of growth. Nevertheless, it has been and it is growing. It was not, in 1802 what it is in 1902, and it is not in 1902 what it was in 1902.

     THE INTELLECTUAL GROWTH OF THE CHURCH.

     The New Church, though divided into various sections by internal differences as well as natural distinctions, still is one general, spiritual community, which is moving along together in the spiritual world, subject simultaneously to the same general influences.

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In the history of the New Church we have often noticed instances of a kind of spiritual telepathy or community and coincidence of thought, the same subjects being taken up for consideration simultaneously in various quarters, and this without any external channels of communication. This has been the case in a marked degree during the past year, especially in regard to the subject of the "distinctiveness of the New Church," which has so greatly occupied the attention of the Church, both in America, and Great Britain, and in Sweden. Simultaneously with the first instalment of a series of papers on this subject in the pages of New Church Life, there appeared in Morning Light a paper by Mr. Andrew Eadie on "The Church: What It Is, and Where." Then came the Conference sermon by Rev. J. F. Buss on "The Position, Function, and Responsibility of the New Church," and a paper by Rev. Chas. Griffiths on "The New Church: How, When, Where, and With Whom," all these occasioning a very lively and long-continued discussion in the English New Church journals. The same subject has been considered also in the American and the Swedish journals, and in tracts and pamphlets. Simultaneously, and without consultation among the writers, the same general principles were brought out: that "the good" in the Old Church cannot possibly be termed "New Churchmen," that the Church Universal is not to be confounded with the new Church Specific, and that the New Church is to be as distinct from the old Christian Church, as the latter, in the days of primitive Christianity, was distinct from Judaism and Paganism The doctrine on this subject has never been brought out in such fullness as during the past year, and the increased light on this point, so vital to the existence of the New Church in this world, is an encouraging evidence of spiritual growth.

     The discussion on the subject of "Discontent in the Church," which has been going on in the Messenger for the greater part of the year, has been useful in the way of establishing a greater degree of freedom of utterance in the organ of the General Convention. In other respects the discussion has been rather superficial, as the subjects at issue between the "contented" and "discontented" have proved to be mostly external things, ceremonials, forms of government, methods of work, etc., instead of vital principles of life and doctrine. With the exception of the brief letters of Mr. Gladish and Mr. Alden, the discussion has not touched upon the real spiritual ills of the Church in general.

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The lack of a living loyalty to the New Revelation, the widely prevailing sphere of worldliness among professed New Churchmen, the tendency to look outward instead of inward, to watch the Old Church and court its good opinion, to encourage external rather than internal development,--these are the most manifest evils which are at the bottom of the "discontentment" in the New Church. The discussion on Swedenborg's Scientific works, their intrinsic value and their relation to the inspired Writings, was carried over from the preceding year. Notable among the recent contributions to this discussion were the papers by Mr. Pendleton, Mr. Potts, and Mr. Synnestvedt. The discussion, as a whole, has proved of great interest and value; the attention of the Church has been powerfully and, we believe, permanently drawn to the subject after an interval of fifty years of general indifference; the harmony between the revealed Doctrines of the New Church and Swedenborg's own philosophical and scientific principles has been clearly demonstrated, and it is evident that the interest in the development of New Church Science has been stimulated. As signs of this reawakened interest we may point to the many papers on Evolution, primal causes, the creation of first forms, spontaneous generation, etc., which have appeared during the year in the New Church periodicals.

     THE LITERARY WORK OF THE CHURCH.

     According to the means of information within our reach, no less than seventy-five new volumes or works have been added to the literature of the New Church during the past year. Of these, nine are new editions of the Writings of Swedenborg, and twenty-three are magazines and journals. The most important of all these volumes (of which we have prepared a complete list), is the first volume of The Spiritual Diary in the photo typed edition,--a grand achievement for which the Church may well be grateful. Of the Arcana Caelestia, Vols. II and XII, have appeared in new English translations, and a new volume has been added to the Swedish version. New editions of Heaven and Hell, The Apocalypse Explained, and the treatises On the Divine Love and On the Divine Wisdom have been published, and the important little work, De Verbo, has appeared in complete form for the first time in the English tongue.

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     NOTABLE EVENTS DURING THE YEAR.

January 1. Berlin, Ont.-Organization of the "Ontario District Assembly" of the General Church of the New Jerusalem.

January 13. Newtonville, Mass.-Death of Francis A. Dewson, for many years the treasurer of the General Convention.

January 29. Bryn Athyn, Pa.--Swedenborg's birthday, and the completion of the Swedenborg Concordance are celebrated. A loving-cup is presented to the Rev. J. F. Potts. The day is celebrated in all the centers of the General Church, and also at Detroit, Mich., and at Stockholm and Gottenburg, Sweden.

During the month Rev. John Goddard leaves Cincinnati, to take charge of the society at Newtonville, Mass. Rev. G. L. Allbutt opens an independent mission in Baltimore.

February 10. Pine City, Wash.--A New Church chapel is opened for worship here.

February 14. Brightlingsea, England.-Death of Rev. John Martin.

February 14. Adelaide, Australia.-Rev. Percy Billings takes charge of this society.

February 14. Stockholm, Sweden.--Rev Albert Bjorck is formally excluded from membership in the New Church in Sweden. He institutes legal proceedings against the Church.

February 15. New York City.--Death of George Woolworth Colton, the manager of the American Swedenborg Society and of the New Church Board of Publications.

February 15. Bristol, England.-Rev. W. H. Buss begins his ministry here.

February 17. Bridgewater, Mass.--Rev George S. Wheeler resigns the pastorate, in order to take charge of the society in Providence, RI.

February 22. Orange, N. J.--Annual meeting of the New York Association.

During the month a new society is organized at Hamilton, Ont. Rev. G. Meek takes charge of the society in the Isle of Jersey.

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March 7. Baltimore, Md.--Rev. E. Cronlund begins to pay monthly visits to the "Baltimore New Church Reading and Social Circle." Public services are instituted.

March 24. Allentown, Pa.--The silver wedding of Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Ebert is celebrated.

March 25-29. Stockholm.--Rev. J. E. Rosenquist lectures on "Swedenborg" before crowded audiences. He inaugurates a fund for a New Church Orphanage.

March 31. Buffalo, N. Y.--The new house of worship is dedicated.

April 1. Salem, Mass.-Rev. John A. Hayes withdraws from the New Church in order to join the Unitarians.

April 5. Lancaster, Pa.--Annual meeting of the Pennsylvania Association.

April 25. Glasgow, Scotland.--Annual meeting of the Scottish Association of the New Church.

May 5. Cambridge, Mass.--A society is organized by Rev. James Reed.

May 7. Bryn Athyn, Pa.--Death of Andrew Klein, formerly of Brooklyn.

May 12. Kearsley, England.-Rev. Hector Ferguson, of Melbourne, Australia, takes charge of this society.

May 21. Manchester, England.--Death of Henry Septimus Sutton.

May 22. Los Angeles, Cal.--The two societies in this city effect a union under Rev. W. W. Welsh.

May 22. London.-Annual meeting of the New Church Mission and Tract Society of Great Britain.

May 27-28. New York City.-Annual meeting of the Swedenborg Scientific Association.

May 28-30. New York City.--Meeting of the Council of Ministers of the General Convention.

May 31. Brooklyn, N. Y.--Annual meeting of the American New Church Sunday School Association, and of the American League of New Church Young Peoples' Societies.

June 1-4. Brooklyn.--The eighty-first annual session of the General Convention.

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June 2. Brooklyn.--Andrew Parsons and Abraham Knobel are ordained into the ministry of the New Church by Rev. S. S. Seward.

June 3. Springfield, Ill.--A society is organized by Rev. L. P. Mercer.

June 4. New York City.--Organization of the "Neo-Christian Union," by Rev. S. H. Spencer and others.

June 7. Isle of Mauritius.--The society applies to the government for aid in the support of a minister.

June 11. London.--Annual meeting of the Swedenborg Society.

June 14. Bryn Athyn.--Commencement exercises of the Academy Schools.

June 16-19. Urbana, O.--Semi-centennial celebration of the Urbana University.

June 17-22. London.--The ninety-fourth session of the General Conference.

June 18. Bryn Athyn.--Death of Miss Evelyn E. Plummer.

June 19.--The "New Church Day" is celebrated at all the centers of the General Church of the New Jerusalem; also, at Urbana, O., Detroit, Mich., Norwich, England, and Gottenburg, Sweden.

June 20. Bryn Athyn.--Organization of the "Philadelphia District Assembly" of the General Church.

June 25-28. Bryn Athyn.--Annual meeting of the Council of the Clergy of the General Church.

June 27. Bryn Athyn.--Rev. George G. Starkey resigns the editorship of New Church Life. He is succeeded by Rev. C. Th. Odhner as editor, and Rev. A. Acton as assistant editor.

July 3. Berlin, Ont.--Death of Rev. F. W. Tuerk.

July 14. La Forte, Ind.---The New Church Assembly and Summer School is opened for the last time.

July 25. Mexico.--Death of Rev. James E. Mills.

During the month Rev. E. J. E. Schreck conducts a New Church Summer School at Almont, Mich.

August 10. Middleport, O.--Rev. David H. Klein, of Glenview, takes charge of the society here.

August 14. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.--An account appears in the Messenger of the origin and growth of the New Church in Brazil and the work of Senor L. C. de La Fayette.

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August 25. Zurich, Switzerland.--Annual meeting of the Swiss New Church Union.

August 27. Manchester--Death of Peter J. Livsey; he bequeaths large sums to the uses of the New Church in England.

September 13-15 Berlin, Ont.-Annual meeting of the Canada Association. Rev. A. B. Francisco is installed as pastor of the First New Jerusalem Society in Berlin.

September 15. Pittsburg, Pa.-Rev. E. C. Bostock removes to Bryn Athyn.

September 19. Bryn Athyn.--A memorial meeting is held in honor of President McKinley. Similar services are held in many other New Church societies about this time.

September 22. Cincinnati.--Rev. L. P. Mercer commences his ministry here.

September 27. Berlin, Ont.--Decennial celebration of the Carmel Church.

September 28-29. Detroit, Mich.--Annual meeting of the Michigan Association.

September 29. Colchester, England.--Rev. Andrew Czerny commences his ministry here. A New Church school is opened at London, in charge of Mr. Czerny.

October 1. Chicago,--Rev. E. J. E. Schreck takes pastoral charge of the Kenwood Society.

October 2-6. Accrington, England.--Centenary celebration of the Sunday School of the Accrington Society.
October 7. Bryn Athyn.--The Schools of the Academy are opened in the new school building, now nearly completed.

October 8. Cleveland, O.--Annual meeting of the Ohio Association.

October 10. Providence, R. I.--Meeting of the Massachusetts Association.

October 18-20. Glenview, Ill.--Organization of the "Chicago District Assembly" of the General Church of the New Jerusalem.

October 18-20. Wilmington, Del.--Annual meeting of the Maryland Association.

October 19. St. Louis, Mo.--Annual meeting of the German Synod.

October 27-29. Pittsburg.--Organization of the "Pittsburg District Assembly" of the General Church. Rev. D. H. Klein is ordained into the second degree of the priesthood, by Bishop Pendleton.

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November 1-3 Chicago.--Annual meeting of the Illinois Association.

November 4. Stockholm.-The law suit of Albert Bjorck against the New Church in Sweden is terminated in favor of the latter. Mr. Bjorck appeals to the Supreme Court.

November 10. Cambridge, Mass.--The new chapel of the Theological School of the General Convention is opened for services.

December 1. Bridgewater, Mass.--Rev. Emanuel Gorwitz commences his ministry here.

December 2. Bryn Athyn.--Death of Rev. Henry B. Cowley.

December 22. Bryn Athyn.--Death of Robert M. Glenn, Esq., president of the Academy of the New Church.

During the month Rev. J. S. David terminates his pastorate at Vineland, N. J., and Rev. J. F. Buss, his pastorate at Glasgow, Scotland. Rev. Lewis A. Slight becomes pastor of the Brightlingsea Society.

December 31. Parkdale, Ont.--Second annual meeting of the Ontario District Assembly of the General Church.

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Editorial Department 1902

Editorial Department       Editor       1902

THE DECLINE OF THE BIRTH RATE.

     The following from the report of the "Committee on Vital Statistics," recently presented to the Provincial Synod of the Anglican Church at Montreal, will be of interest to those who are watching the signs of the times

"Table I., showing birth rate per thousand population in Ontario and Quebec:
Date.                         Ontario.     Quebec.
1896                         20.7          38.57          
1897                         20.9          35.91               
1898                         20.4          35.70
1899                         19.4          33.46

"Table II., showing birth rate in some other countries and in some States the Union:

Country or State               1885          1890          1898
France                    24.2          21.8          22.1
Germany                    37          35.7          36.2
United Kingdom                31.6           29.2          28.9
England and Wales           32.9          30.2          29.4
Scotland                     32.7          30.4          30.8
Ireland                    23.5          22.3          23.2
New South Wales                37.8          35.4          27.4
New Zealand                34.4          29.4          25.7
Connecticut                    22.7          23.3          23.5
Massachusetts               25.1          25.8          27.4
Michigan                     21.7          19.8          18
New Hampshire                17.5          18.4          19*

* 1895.

     From the above statistics two features are evident:--(1) The abnormal low birth rate in Ontario-lower than that of any European country, but not lower than that of some of the contiguous States in the Union. (2) Both in Ontario and Quebec the birth rate is still decreasing, in Ontario from 20.7 in 1896 to 19.4 in 1899, a decrease of 1.3 per 1,000 in four years; in Quebec from 38.57 in 1896 to 33.46 in 1899, a decrease of 5.11 per 1,000 in the same four years.

     In considering the subject of the birth rate, especially in Ontario, your committee has corresponded with men who are in positions enabling them to be acquainted with the facts, such as the superintendents of hospitals and medical practitioners, and also with men likely to be close observers of social and moral tendencies, such as the Bishops of the Church, and prominent men, both clerical and lay, in the Church and other religious communities.

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As the result of their investigations, and also of the wide and thorough discussion in the public press after the last meeting of Provincial Synod, your committee is of the opinion that the low birth rate in Ontario is due mainly to the following causes:--

"(1) Selfish and materialistic views of life. The Divine and social ends of marriage are ignored. Wives shrink from the duties and cares of motherhood.

"(2) Changed social conditions; the substitution of women for men in many positions; the expense of living; the emigration of the young men to the northwest, United States and elsewhere.

"(3) The use of preventives, information as to which is spread far and wide by advertisements in the public press and otherwise.

"In concluding this section your committee calls attention to the fact that for the last forty years--indeed, since the days of Malthus--the birth rate has been declining all over the civilized world, the most evident and direct causes being perhaps selfish and materialistic views of life, intensified of late years by keenness of competition and high pressure."

     These extracts, which are quoted from the Toronto Globe of October 19, 1901, will appear the more significant when compared with the statistics of the Birth Rate for the years 1867-1878, when France reported 25.8, England and Wales 35.6, Scotland 35.2, and Ireland 26.7.

     If this general decline of the Birth Rate were to continue, unchecked, it would not take many centuries before it would arrive at the 0.0, throughout Christendom. In the meantime, what are the journals, and the ministers, and the serious members of the New Church doing to protect the Church itself from contagion by this universal evil, the Prevention of Offspring, the ravages of which can be compared only to the Black Death of the Dark Ages? Where is there a voice raised against it, in the pulpits or the publications of the Church at large? It is an unpopular subject, of course, and offensive to "delicate" ears, but what of our duty to the Lord and the neighbor, when the very existence of the civilized races is threatened with destruction?
EXEGETICAL SPECIMEN 1902

EXEGETICAL SPECIMEN              1902

     A friend sends us the following clipping from the New York Sun of September 24th, which, though horribly profane, we reproduce as a typical specimen of Biblical Exegesis in an extinct Church:

     "The men on the Shamrock seem to be students of the Bible as well as of yachting. On Sunday Dr. Reed Mackay preached a sermon to the Shamrock's crew on board the Porto Rico, and his text was taken from Isaiah xxxiii., 23, which reads:

     "'Their tacklings are loosed; they could not well strengthen their mast; they could not spread the sail; then is the prey of a great spoil divided; the lame take the prey.

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     "Dr. Mackay declared that this was a prophecy and in it he saw victory predicted for the Shamrock. He pointed out that it was particularly applicable to Sir Thomas just now, as he was still lame. The doctor made a strong argument and his discourse was very much admired."

     This is the kind of "spiritual food" which is dished out, Sunday after Sunday, and year after year, in most,--nearly all,--of the pulpits throughout this broad land. What sort of a race will be raised up on such nurture! Between "Higher Criticism," on the one hand, and modern interpreters of the Word, on the other, "the poor, what can he do!"
DOES MAN NEED A VERMIFORM APPENDIX? 1902

DOES MAN NEED A VERMIFORM APPENDIX?              1902

     A correspondent, remembering the Life's time-honored, but lonely championship of that small but formidable organ known as the "vermiform appendix," has sent us a highly interesting clipping from the Chicago Record-Herald which remarkably confirms Swedenborg's long-neglected discovery as to the important use of this supposed superfluity in the human structure:

     "The uselessness of man's vermiform appendix has been generally accepted by medical science for a great many years. The layman has also accepted the theory that it has no function outside of furnishing an occasional fat fee to a surgeon.

     "If the vermiform appendix were an anatomical necessity, of course it would not be such a source of profit to the surgeons. It could not be removed so often. The wisest medical men have agreed, however, that it is without use, and hence can be removed with impunity every time it gets clogged with a button or a grape seed.

     "Imagine the stir created in the Interstate Medical Association, therefore, by a leading surgeon of Denver, who made the positive statement that the vermiform appendix has a function to perform, that it belongs in man's anatomy and was not dropped in by chance or in a haphazard way. This surgeon advanced the theory that the appendix has a secretory function, serving as a lubricant to the great intestines, and that any interference with it must be attended by sickness and in many instances a multitude of disorders, some of which may prove fatal.

     "Of course, this statement, emanating from such high authority, is certain to revive the old controversy about the uselessness of the appendix. As everyone knows, it is a slender, hollow, blind process at the end of the caecum, and is found in some other mammals besides man. The name given it indicates the nature of the organ, that it is merely a superfluous addition, an appendix, to the intestines, and is not necessary to them.

     "If the vermiform appendix is without use in man's anatomy it stands as the one exception in all the realm of Nature's handiwork, for it is an elemental law of physics that Nature made everything for some purpose. It is not too much to expect that scientific surgery, yet only in its experimental stages, will some day discover a use for the vermiform appendix."

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     Swedenborg, in the Animal Kingdom (vol. II, p. 138), states that the vermiform appendix "opens its pores and expands its cavity synchronously with the caecum, and pours a new liquid, adapted from anointing and lubricating the wavy folds of the colon, and particularly for macerating the faeces, into the fundus of the caecum and the gorge of the colon. This liquid is proximately obtained from the cellular coat of the intestines, remotely from the cellular coats of the peritoneum and of the abdominal viscera; the appendix caeci draws off the discharges of the useless and harmful portion of it, just as the caecum itself draws off and discharges the alvne faeces." (For further information see Dr. Harvey Farrington's notes in The New Philosophy for 1898, p. 29.)
MONTHLY REVIEW 1902

MONTHLY REVIEW              1902

THE NEW CHURCH JOURNALS.     

     New Church Messenger. December 11.-Mr. A. L. Kip, of Chicago, in a communication announced some very startling discoveries which, by means of correspondences, he has made in prehistoric chronology. He has thus found that "the Most Ancient Church began about 5600 B. C. and lasted until about 3300 B. C.," just as, in his book on Phases of the Church Universal, he discovered that "the New Church will begin on a large scale 250 years from now," and that "five hundred years will elapse before the New Church finally receives its due veneration and acceptance." We have often noticed among New Church people this tendency to speculate a priori, and to lay down the law as to external things from a knowledge of correspondences. But correspondences are dangerous things to juggle with. They must be "handled with care," and according to the universal laws of genuine doctrine. Otherwise they are apt to land us in absurd situations, opposed alike to revealed Doctrine or common sense.

     In a brief but significant communication from the Rev. S. C. Eby, the writer expresses his disapproval of "a new feature" which was introduced at the recent meeting of the Illinois Association, where the Sunday Services were conducted by "three ministers clad in white robes." The writer calls attention to the still more sinister fact that "one of them wore also the purple stole of a bishop, and the others the blue stoles of simple priests." Now, lest the Illinois Association should be suspected of a tendency to depart from orthodox puritanical blackness, Mr. Eby hastens to assure the Church that "'the new feature' was no part of the proceedings of the Association. The credit of the performance lies exclusively with the minister of the Englewood Society and the visiting ministers occupying his pulpit." Let these ministers, therefore, take warning! People were excommunicated for even less offences in the good old days of "Praise-God-Barebones."

     January 1, 1902. Mr. William Denovan, himself a Scotchman, by a single dose of Scotch humor, sweeps away the whole issue which so long has separated those who affirm from those who deny the Divine Authority of the Writings.

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Says he: "Swedenborg's Writings were stated by some to be the Divine Human, and confusion arose in the Church because, like the Scotchman's definition of metaphysics, those who listened did not know what those who uttered the expression meant; and those who uttered it did not know what they meant themselves." Very good,--for a Scotch joke! But is it not possible that there may be in the New Church, on either side of the issue, minds which in penetration may equal our humorous friend! That there are, is evident from Mr. Denovan's further statement: "Mr. Spencer has been affirming that the Writings are the Lord's Coming in truth to the mind; and apart from this, simply books. But what more could an Academician say!" Nothing more,--which shows that the Academicians know what they are talking about, since thus far they agree with Mr. Denovan. But our friend places the Editor of the Messenger in an embarrassing situation when he asks: "Would you, Mr. Editor, as the literary representative [of the Convention], deny that Swedenborg's doctrine is the Divine Human in the sense in which he says 'all doctrine' is?" The editor, as usual, in response to doctrinal inquiries, preserves an eloquent silence.

     January 8. The propaganda in advocacy of "Marrying outside the Church" is still being carried on in the "Young People's" department of the Messenger. A contributor, "W.," who himself has married outside the Church, sets his own case as an example for the guidance of the Young People, but objects strenuously to any advice from parents or ministers in the choice of a partner. The inconsistency does not at all occur to him. "Marriage as an institution is purely one of love," he maintains. Spiritual principles, revealed Doctrines, Divine Commandments, Truth of any kind or degree, have no right to interfere. But love without truth is nothing but animal desire. The writer concludes "I have never seen an unhappy marriage between a New Church man and a member of another Church." His experience must have been limited, indeed.

     It is difficult to understand why not a single voice is raised in the Messenger against this sustained effort to destroy Conjugial Love in the New Church. Why this silence on the part of those who know, while deadly poison is being distributed broadcast among the members of the Church by means of the Editorial Board of the Young People's League! Would the Messenger refuse space to communications upholding the Doctrine of the Church? Or is it courage that is lacking, or are the watchmen of the New Jerusalem asleep while the sword is coming upon the innocent?

     New Church Review. The January number contains interesting articles on a variety of topics, including Marriage, the Childhood of the Lord, and Evolution. Specially timely is the paper by Rev. James Reed on The Teachings of the New Church respecting marriage. The Rev. A. F. Frost contributes a valuable "doctrinal study" on the Incarnation, which is truly a "doctrinal study."

     Owing to lack of space we are obliged to defer an extended notice of this number until next month.

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     The New Church Herald. No. 1, January, 1902. This new contemporary, "an independent, unbiased, religious family paper," is to be published monthly by Mr. Wm. J. Thiel, of Chicago, who styles himself "an 'authorized' New Church Evangelist." This, to our attempt to start a journal under the title of The New Church Herald, but the failure of previous efforts should in no wise discourage our new friend in the West. Nevertheless, we have misgivings as to his undertaking. In the course of more than a hundred year's experience (that is how old we are), we have noticed that the number of New Church periodicals, within a certain period, is in exact ratio with the financial "good times" "bad times." Just now there are "good times," and consequently we have the pleasure of communing with no less than twenty-three New Church magazines, but after a while we will again be restricted to the half-dozen old "stand-bys."

     The New Church Independent. In "Procreation in Heaven" we are presented with entirely novel "pictures" of the other world. It is inhabited not only by angels and spirits, but also by mysterious Cherubim and Seraphim; the air is filled with "seal germs;" "familiars" fly around everywhere, while shadowy spirits yet unborn lurk in unknown places awaiting the birth of some natural body which they may claim and inhabit. "Octogenarian" bases his conclusions on the teaching that the angels have spiritual offspring, arguing that this offspring "may be a soul germ destined to descend to the earth sphere, be conceived and Clothed with a natural body which will give it a permanent eternal existence, and these "soul germs" he identifies with the atmospheres of sporting infants mentioned in A. C., 2297 But having arrived thus far, his powers of imagination fail him, and he calls upon one who has had his "spiritual senses opened" to confirm and elaborate. "Atma" comes upon the scene, and we immediately notice the pen of "master," "Atma" begins by telling us off-hand, as it were, that not only angelic pairs have offspring, but also single angels, in fact, that he has such offspring himself. "Births from a single person are soul germs, and from conjugial pairs the spirit of a human being is born. The spiritual heavens are filled with these human receptacles. Single males give birth to single male germs, and single females to female germs. These germs never grow to perfection in the other life, but retain a small stature. At their infusion into a natural person on earth they become his 'familiars"' "Atma" then tells how these virgin "births" are actually effected in heaven, where "attendant spirits" act as midwives. The details are harrowing, and, as the Editor of the Independent says, "pretty discouraging to those who have been sufferers in this world." We are next introduced to those who "arrive in heaven equal in mental development to the brain development of their parents" and become the Cherubim and Seraphim of the Word!

     Morning Light. Dec. 21. About half of the number is taken up with a sermon by Rev. W. L. Worcester on the Nativity. Mr. Worcester treats in an interesting and instructive way of the Genealogies, the Swaddling Clothes and the Manger, and the shepherds and wise men.

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The portion on the Genealogies is especially suggestive. But his sermon would be much improved for the reader of the Writings had he made a freer use of their diction and terminology.

     Mr. Buss has at last answered the letters by Mr. Adcock and others which have been directed against his position that the New Church consists only of those who acknowledge the Lord in His Second Coming. As to the claim, so often made, that the good in the Old Church are really in the New, Mr. Buss readily disposes of it by showing that the Writings teach that such are to be collected, initiated and instructed in genuine truths, and that they will then be of the New Church (A. R. 813-814, A. C. 3898). Thus they are not of the New Church before they are in "genuine truths."

     Jan. 4. A prominent feature of the Junior Members' Corner in Morning Light has, of late, been the introduction of one or more sound and able essays on New Church subjects. The subject of the article in the present issue is the daily reading of the Word and the Writings. It is simply and forcibly treated and in a true New Church spirit. Much emphasis is put on the need of the daily reading of both the Word and the Writings; "both are of the Lord and from the Lord."

     In this connection it might be added that Rev. W. H. Claxton reports the sale of 400 of the "Reading Plans."
ASSUMPTION OF THE HUMAN 1902

ASSUMPTION OF THE HUMAN       Samuel M. Warren       1902

Editors New Church Life.

     Referring to the criticism in your October number (p. 547) of the paper in the New Church Review for July, on "Our Lord's Assumption of the Human," and your suggestion that a passage you quote "seems to call for explanation," I am free to confess that there is an apparent obscurity, and perhaps apparent inconsistency. But I think it is only apparent,--due in part perhaps to imperfect expression of what was in the mind to say (though I should be at a loss how to put it more clearly and yet as briefly); but due more, I think, to the nature of the subject, and the necessity for condensation, under the circumstances of the occasion for which the paper was written.

     To bring the point in question quite distinctly before the reader, and for the better understanding of the explanation I venture to offer, I take leave to quote the passage again:--"In the descent of the Divine soul to the lowest ultimate of the human, and there clothing itself with a material body in the womb of a virgin, in and by the very fact of this descent the Divine passed successively through and took upon Himself all the intervening degrees of the finite human; and according to Divine order He could not otherwise have taken upon Himself all the intervening degrees of the human than by thus clothing Himself first with an ultimate material body."

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     To this you ask the question--"Are we to understand that the Lord assumed the ultimate body before He assumed the intervening degrees? If so, what does the writer mean when he says that 'in the descent' [to that ultimate degree] the Divine took upon Himself all the intervening degrees?"

     With a sense of the difficulty of presenting clearly even a general outline of so vast a subject in so brief a statement as was called for, an explanatory recapitulation was given on the last two pages of the paper, which it was hoped would dispel any obscurity there might be in what had gone before. Possibly a careful reperusal of those pages may yet help to remove the difficulty, and to show that there is no real inconsistency.

     The subject needs to be viewed in the light of some fundamental principles of Divine order set forth in the Writings, which perhaps have not been sufficiently considered. It is one of the axioms of Divine philosophy there unfolded, that "all power resides in ultimates. And hence is the law of order, illustrated in every act of creation, that "Creation began from things supreme or inmost, because from the Divine, and went forth to ultimates or extremes and there first subsisted" (L. J. 9), and that "Divine order does never subsist in the mediate and form anything there without an ultimate--for it is not in its fulness and perfection--but goes forth to the ultimate, and then, when it is in its ultimate, it forms." (Ibid. 20.)

     The going forth of the Divine thus to ultimates is by discrete degrees, in successive order. It be no otherwise; for such is Divine order. And such was the order of the going forth of the Divine to clothe itself with the human. By this order, all that is formed, in the ultimate, first exists unformed, that is, rudimentarily, in the intermediates. The Divine, in going forth to clothe itself with an ultimate human body in the womb of a virgin, first put on thus, in and by its descent, the rudiments of the intervening degrees,--or, rather, of the only intermediate degree (the natural) which it had not, both rudimentary and actually, before (D. L. W. 233). Now otherwise could the Divine descend to the ultimate, to clothe itself there with a material body, than by a first rudimentary putting on of the intermediate, by which to descend? But after the ultimate body was taken on, then what had been rudimentary was formed and made actual. In this view mark the significance of the language of the passage just referred to--"After His assumption of the Human He put on also the third degree, which is called the natural, and thereby became a man, like men in the world."--That is, after the Divine soul had gone forth to the very ultimate, and put on a material body--he last of that lowest degree--then it clothed itself actually with the intervening natural, which was only in rudiments before. And then the natural, thus fully formed and made actual, was glorified and made Divine.

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     Permit me here to add a word, not exactly pertinent to your question, in answer to a friend who doubts the accuracy of the statement (Review, p. 948), that the Lord "took open Himself all the hereditary maternal and also paternal evils of the human race." The Point raised is an important one, and may be of wider than an individual interest. As opposed to this statement the objector cites A. C. 1573, which he understands to teach that the Lord assumed only the maternal evils of mankind, and not the paternal. I think this is a misunderstanding of the passage. It reads thus-

     "One may be surprised that it is said there was hereditary evil from the mother with the Lord; but it is here (Gen. xiii, 7) so manifestly declared--and in the internal sense it treats of the Lord--that it cannot be doubted. In truth, no man can ever be born of any human being and not derive evil thence. But hereditary evil which is derived from the father is one thing, and that from the mother is another. Hereditary evil from the father is more interior, and remains to eternity, for it can never be eradicated. Such [evil] was not in the Lord, for He was born of the Father Jehovah, and so was Divine or Jehovah as to internals. But hereditary evil from the mother is of the external man. This was with the Lord, and was called 'the Canaanite in the land.'"

     The teaching here is, that the Lord did not derive hereditary evil from His Father, who was Jehovah; not that He did not otherwise take upon Himself the paternal evils of the human race, that He might overcome them. Indeed the world of spirits, with which He clothed Himself in the natural, was full of evils, both paternal and maternal. In making actual the natural degree in Himself, the Divine soul clothed itself about with the finite humanity of that degree,--wherein is the world of spirits and the world of men on earth,--just as He had before made actual the two prior degrees by clothing Himself with the humanity of the heavens, which was the Divine Human before the incarnation (D. L. W. 233). In Him was no hereditary evil from the Father, because the Father in Him was Divine; but, as by clothing Himself with a body from the mother He took upon Him the hereditary forms of all maternal evils, so, by investing Himself with the humanity of the world of spirits He took on also the forms of all evils of the human race that are paternal as well as maternal; as, by clothing Himself with the humanity of the heavens. He had before taken on all the finite imperfections of good and truth as received by the angels. Thus only was fulfilled the prophetic enunciation--"Jehovah hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all" (Is. liii, 6).

     On this point, the Lord's assumption also of the paternal evils of mankind, Mr. Noble well says,--

     "The Lord could not receive anything of the kind [paternal evils] from His Father; yet had they not in some way been present with Him He could not have overcome them and removed them from man" (Noble, On the Glorification, etc., pp. 26, 27, and note). Samuel M. Warren, Brookline, Mass., December 13, 1901.

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FIRST PITTSBURG DISTRICT ASSEMBLY OF THE GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM 1902

FIRST PITTSBURG DISTRICT ASSEMBLY OF THE GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM              1902

SUNDAY, OCT. 27TH, TO WEDNESDAY, OCT. 29TH, 1901.

     At the call of Bishop Pendleton, the members and friends of the General Church of the New Jerusalem residing in Western Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia were invited to meet in Pittsburg for the purpose of forming a District Assembly. Invitations were sent to the Society in Middleport, to the Circles in Erie and Greenford, and to as many of the isolated receivers as could be located; about one hundred and thirty persons in all Of these, owing partly to the shortness of the notice, only nine or ten were able to attend; but from the number of regrets and expressions of good wishes which we have received we may hope for a much larger representation at future assemblies. The number of visitors, however, was swelled by members from other centres, who added greatly to the sphere and interest of a most successful and useful Assembly. The meetings drew out the deepest affections for the uses of the General Church and of its District Assemblies.

FIRST DAY--SUNDAY MORNING.
Bishop Pendleton conducted the services and preached. He ordained the Rev. D. H. Klein into the Second Degree of the Priesthood, and received him as a priest of that degree into the General Church. The Bishop assisted by Rev. D. H. Klein, then administered the Holy Supper to sixty-three communicants.

SUNDAY EVENING.
Bishop Pendleton opened the meeting with a short religious service.

The Bishop then addressed the meeting in general as follows:--

     Brethren and Friends: This meeting has been called to consider the subject of a District Assembly of the General Church in this region. But before proceeding to this it may be well to say something bearing upon a principle involved in organizing the active uses of the Church. One of the duties of the priests in the Israelitish Church was to keep the lights burning perpetually in the temple. This was a representative custom. In antiquity the significance of fire was known; afterwards the knowledge was lost, but the custom of keeping the sacred or perpetual fire burning continued, and still continues to some extent even to the present day. In former times, in every large city, where there was a temple of any size, a was kept burning upon the altar.

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In some cases virgins were devoted to the use of tending the fire, so that it might never go out. The people of those times had so great veneration for this sacred fire that they thought some great calamity would happen should it die out. The church was not seen by the Israelites as to its real internal quality; they were held together by means of externals, as, by the perpetual fire which they reverenced and guarded with zealous care, because it was something handed down from antiquity. The sacred fire represented the same as the fire of the sun, which is the force of forces in nature. Even the partial withdrawal of the fire of the sun is something akin to death. Fire, then, is the most complete and perfect representation of spiritual fire, in heaven and the Church,--the Divine Love of the Lord. The ancient sacred fire represented that which is the inmost and the source of the life of the Church,--the affection of truth.

     It is not necessary to have such fires burning in our temples. Such things were essential in the ancient representative Church and especially in the times following, when the Church was not seen as to its internal quality, when it became such that the Lord could be present only in externals. By the veneration and zealous guarding of the sacred fire, and by the daily kindling of the lamps, thus by the things which were representative of the real internals, communication was kept up between men on earth and angels in heaven. But after the Lord came into the world, He abrogated that merely external communication and established an internal one. He is now present in the internal, and in the external from the internal. Such externals may exist, but so far as they do, they must proceed from an internal state; they will be an outgrowth, an ultimate expression of the state existing internally. Since the Lord is present by internals, and from the internals in externals, it is essential that that which is represented by the sacred fire should be with us, that the affection of truth should be with us, a perpetual fire. It is the duty incumbent upon every member of the Lord's New Church to guard and keep alive this sacred fire. The instrumentality by which this precious fire is to be kept alive is the daily reading of the Writings. They must be read with a belief in them, from the affection of the truth that is in them. When the truths there are read, there will flow in the affection of those truths, from the presence of the good that is in them. The reading of the Writings is one of the most important means of kindling the fire, and of keeping it alive; the Church will die without it. There are various instrumentalities of kindling this fire and keeping it alive. The use of the Priesthood is one of these. The use of the priest is to kindle the fire in the Church and keep it burning, by the faithful performance of the duties of his office, by teaching the truth and leading men by means of it to a genuine affection of the truth. The priesthood has this use as a specific use, but all the men of the Church have it in common. The priest can minister in keeping alive only those fires which have already been kindled. Those priests do this, who have the real love of the salvation of souls. A fire has been kindled in the General Church, but if it is a spurious fire, it will die, and the General Church will go out of existence. Let us hope that a genuine fire has been kindled in our body.

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     Another instrumentality is organization. The priesthood involves organization. Organization is essential to the carrying out of the spiritual uses of the Church, essential as a means of keeping the fire burning. This brings us to the subject particularly before us at this time: the more complete organization of the General Church of the New Jerusalem. A General Body has bees formed, and it is prospect that bodies less general be formed under the general body. If this proposed form is adopted, societies will at a future time be related to each other under these less general bodies forming as District Assemblies, and which look to the possible development of Dioceses.

     The Bishop then reviewed the progress toward District Assemblies: Having seen the necessity of having bodies in the Church larger than the Societies, but smaller than the general body, he had expressed this view at the General Assembly held in Glenview, but the time for this step was not then come; and even now we cannot do much more than make some small beginnings. The actual inauguration of the work had begun last winter, by the formation of the Ontario District Assembly, the indications for such formation being the expressed desires of the members in Berlin and Parkdale that they might meet together annually. Subsequently other Assemblies had been formed:--The Philadelphia District Assembly, at Bryn Athyn, in June, and the Chicago District Assembly, in Glenview, during the present month. He had been impressed with this movement. It was impracticable for the General Assembly to meet every year, and the District Assemblies might to a large extent take its place.

     The question was then placed before the members as to the formation of a District Assembly in Pittsburg. Mr. Macbeth expressed himself as being heartily in favor of the movement, and referred to the ready acquiescence with which the first proposal of such an Assembly was met. The more we consider the usefulness that may grow out of it, the we are impressed. We cannot all go to the General Assemblies; a larger number of the people in this region would be able to attend an assembly here. It seems to solve a difficulty, and is a perfectly feasible, thing. I think it will be found that all the members are in favor of it.

     Rev. David H. Klein thought that the situation in this region is well adapted to the formation of a District Assembly, owing to the n small outlying centres. The fear had been expressed that the work would become too much divided, but he thought we were just about to start a progressive movement, the idea before us being to perfect the parts.

     Rev. R. W. Brown said that he had been surprised to find how there are who would naturally be included in this Assembly, considerably over one hundred adults outside of Pittsburg, the majority of whom are at present without regular ministerial services. He thought that the societies did not appreciate as they might this relation to the General Church and its uses. It is a use of our societies to take an interest in their neighborhood. This interest of the societies is not only of use to the isolated receivers, but also of very great use to the societies themselves.

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     Mr. Jacob Schoenberger: I for my part am very glad to see this movement. It will bring us together once a year, and we will meet those whom we might otherwise never see. To keep the lamp burning we must have some means. If the means are not provided the lamp will not burn. Keep the isolated ones interested in the Church; have them come here once a year, and they will be stimulated, and the Church will be able to carry out greater uses. Besides it will kindle the flame more in ourselves I am heartily in favor of the movement

     Rev. J. E. Bowers explained that many isolated receivers had been prevented from coming to the meeting, several of them had expressed the hope that they might be able to come at a future time. Many intelligent New Church people in Ohio and West Virginia would be present at future Assemblies. "Let no one suppose that the sending out of the invitations was useless. The very fact that an invitation has been sent out to them makes them feel that there is some growth in the Church. I feel gratified to see this movement made; it will open a new field of activity that will keep the lights burning in families and in the minds of individuals in many places."

     Mr. Kintner said that when the Bishop first proposed a District Assembly the people of Pittsburgh were heartily in favor of it. He spoke of the use both to the isolated receivers and to the societies; if the isolated receivers were brought together once a year they would go back to their homes with added interest, and if the larger societies showed their interest and took the lead, it would broaden and strengthen them in some of their weak points, for "We all have our weaknesses."

     Mr. Ed. Fuller: These meetings strengthen the unity of the Church; they will be looked forward to with increasing interest from year to year.

     Dr. Cowley said that Assemblies may have the tendency to bring those of the Church nearer together in actual location, as well as in spirit.

     Mr. John Pitcairn: There is perhaps a no more effective means of keeping alive the uses of the Church than meeting together. The use of the General Assemblies has been evident to every one who was privileged to attend them. We felt the loss of the Annual General Assembly, which was found to be impracticable The District Assembly seems to solve the question. There is no idea of giving up the meetings Of the General Assembly altogether, for it will be feasible to have such meetings, though not every year. But to have no meetings in the meantime would he a great loss to the Church. It is possible to have Annual District Assemblies; these will meet the conditions, and take the place of the general ones in the interim. The manner in which the proposal has been received by the various districts is very encouraging.

     To the question should the District Assembly meet at other places than Pittsburg, the Bishop replied that it seemed most feasible to meet in Pittsburg at present.

     Mr. Klein hoped the Assembly would meet in Middleport in the not very distant future.

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     Rev. H. Synnestvedt: The discussion tonight has afforded me a broader view of the subject. I think the main points as to the use of this movement have been brought out. It rests with those who see and are able to make the beginning. But we cannot expect to have all the people together on such short notice. It will take time; there are many with whom the sacred flame is not as bright as it ought to be. You who live in societies do not realize how much you depend on the general sphere of the Church. We have to go away for awhile to realize how very much we miss the sphere of others. Our meetings will have to grow, and they will if our attitude is one of reception and not of rebellion. Besides those people who have once received any real benefits will be willing to make sacrifices to come back again. Most bodies see the use of coming together. The secret of the use is in the general spheres which is fostered. Bodies of the Old Church recognize that this is a good thing and they resort to external means to bring it about, and depend on it to hold them together. Externals add to the strength, especially with the young. But we not to set our hearts upon the externals; this would cause weakness. We must not be surprised at the slowness of external growth, and we will not be if our hearts are in the internal use. Our uses must centre themselves. We must endeavor to unite all the materials which we have. We are accused of being self-centred, but we know from the Doctrines that our first charity is to those who have identified themselves with as, to centralize our forces amongst these. But even in this, our proper field, we may justly accuse ourselves of being self-centered, if we are not able to look beyond the individual to the larger unit. We must remember that the real unit is not the individual, but the united whole, made up of individuals. We are truly parts as we look to the whole, and extend our view to its larger uses.

     Pittsburg is a natural centre. It is growing in advantages, culture, and learning; it presents many opportunities to those who would come here. The society will grow, will perhaps become the largest in the General Church. It is in the midst of a field that has been thickly sown with the truths of the New Church, but in many places the lights have flickered. The time has come to stem the tide. If you would make those about here feel that they have a centre to look to, if you would have them come here, you will have to go out to them and see them; and then, have them come and see you. Do not think, however, that the priests are the only ones to do this; do not think that they are the only ones to spread the Doctrines; laymen must also take a hand, every single member has that responsibility. If all will do their share we can be a living, active body.

     The Bishop spoke further of the use which the laymen are able to perform in this respect, and of the great assistance that they are able to give the priests He also took occasion to speak of the meeting to be held in Ontario in January, and hoped that some of those present would go. Continuing, he said: "To decide that we meet once a year is a great step. It is organization, and there is no telling what it will lead to in the course of time. The hope in this beginning is that eventually these District Assemblies will become dioceses, each with a Bishop at its head. That is not before us now, but we should have the end in view. The question now is, whether we shall have an annual Assembly."

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     Mr. Macbeth asked if Mr. Bowers considered the end of October a feasible time of the year for an Annual Assembly.

     Mr. Bowers replied in the affirmative, stating that the farmers, at this time of year, have the greater part of their work done.

     It was moved by Mr. Macbeth that annual meetings of the General Church in this District be held. The motion, having been seconded, was carried unanimously.

     The question of a name was then considered. Mr. Macbeth proposed the name The Central District Assembly of the General Church of the New Jerusalem. Mr. Klein objected to the designation Central, thinking that it was too artificial. He suggested The Pittsburg District Assembly of the General Church of the New Jerusalem. After a brief discussion, the latter name was chosen.

     At, the nomination of Mr. Lindsay, the Rev. Reginald W. Brown was chosen by vote as secretary of the Assembly.

     The meeting then adjourned to meet next evening at 7:30 P. M.

SECOND DAY--MONDAY AFTERNOON.
AN EDUCATIONAL MEETING.

     New Church Educational meetings are nearly always interesting; this one seemed especially so. The Bishop presented to view the extensive fields of labor before us, and those present, mostly ladies, joined in considering them. It was a delightful afternoon; those who have devoted special time and thought to the development of our New Church Education were glad to hear the Bishop express himself on the subject, and to feel the affection and interest that were aroused. Many of the ladies joined in the talk on the various questions which were brought up. It was like a large family gathering. The Bishop impressed the meeting with the comparative insignificance of our work in relation to the Lord's work. What would all that we are able to do amount to, if it were not for the continual and wonderful workings of the Divine Providence, by which even our mistakes are turned to uses? We are merely instrumentalities, co-operating by providing the materials and vessels, which the Lord builds up into a human edifice.

     We might make, our work more difficult than need be, by denying to ourselves that vast storehouse of valuable and useful material which the Lord has provided through the experience of the world about us. There has been a tendency to think that we are to develop it all from within. This we are unable to do; we are not to deny ourselves the results of experience and common sense, though we can fill them with new life.

     The Bishop spoke of instructing children in the Letter of the Word. The instruction must be accommodated to their states, and means used which will naturally appeal to them and draw out their affection and interest. This called forth an interesting discussion of the use of oral instruction, the importance of telling the children the stories of the Word in a simple form adapted to them, and on the value of Bible pictures and representations.

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     So useful was the whole meeting, it is hoped that it will become a regular feature of our District Assembly. It was greatly appreciated by those so located that they cannot send their children to our New Church Schools.

     After the meeting an informal supper was served in the Church building. Many of those who had been detained by their business and home cares joined in this. The general conversation evidenced the deep impression the discussions had made, and the zeal they awakened. The flame burned bright and warm.

SECOND DAY-MONDAY EVENING.
After the supper had been cleared away, and the hall put in order, the evening meeting was opened by a short religious exercise.

     The Bishop then, referring to the steps which had been taken toward organization, and to the discussion on the uses of the Assembly, suggested that it would be well to continue the subject on more interior lines, by taking up the general idea with which the Assembly had been opened. He therefore proposed the following question for consideration: What are the instrumentalities for keeping alive the Sacred Fire, or that which is represented by the Sacred Fire in the Church.

     By way of introduction the Bishop referred to one of the Laws of Divine Providence, given in the latter part of the Apocalypse Explained, namely, that the Lord does not pour knowledges into men's minds, except by means of instrumentalities, especially by the essential instrumentality, the Word,--by which we are all taught; and also, by means of preaching from the Word, by reading, by conversation, and by reflection. These are the instrumentalities by which men are taught truths, and by which they are gifted with the fire and affection which keeps the truths alive. Even these instrumentalities are aided by others, that there may be a perpetual fire in the Church, and that the Church may be perpetual among men.

     Mr. Ed. Fuller thought that one instrumentality would be to publish the minutes of these meetings.

     Mr. John Pitcairn dwelt upon the importance of reading the Letter of the Word and the Writings daily. It is one of the duties of the man of the New Church to do this. The Church is with a man according to his understanding of the Doctrines. He regarded the systematic reading of the Word and the Writings as the most important method of keeping alive the sacred fire,--the affection for the Church. We know that thought brings presence, and that we are associated with the different societies of heaven, while reading the Writings. It is not so important to read much; business men have not time for this; but not a day should pass without reading a number, or half a page, in order to bring the thought toward heaven.

     Mr. Schoenberger, thought it might be useful to have our sermons printed and mailed to the isolated receivers.

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     The Bishop further emphasized the importance of reading the Writings for the purpose of keeping alive the affection of truth in the Church. When any organization in the Church begins to neglect the reading of the Writings it is on the road to decline. Societies have come into existence and disappeared. There are cities where the New Church once flourished in which there is now hardly a trace of it left. There are reasons for this, and he thought we could safely say that one of them was, neglect in reading the Writings. The Writings are given that they may be read. "They give us truths of heaven such as have never been given since the beginning of creation. Our privileges are greater than men ever had before. The Ancient Church was in darkness compared to the New Church. In the Most Ancient Church they received truth from heaven in a semi-conscious state, between sleeping and waking; in this state they heard voices, and afterward they taught the things heard to the rest. They had no such thing as a written Word. We have the Word, and are able to receive truth from heaven in an entirely conscious state. When a New Churchman reads the Writings, he hears the angels interiorly in his thought, for thought is speech with spirits and angels. Through what Swedenborg wrote, we are taught by the angels, and are introduced into their company. No man can be taught truths unless he is conjoined to the spirits who are in the truths. (But man must read if he would be introduced into such company.) Reading is the very ultimate plane by which this conjunction is brought about. Man is according to the company he keeps. Just think of the company we keep when we read the Writings, there is no such company in this world. The angelic spirits can inspire us with thoughts and affections such as men cannot give. We should not become indifferent to this great use. I began to fear that this was the case, and it seems to me necessary to bring the subject before our members from time to time. It is a privilege to enter into angelic company; the Writings give us the opportunity. Man must come to them and study them in humility of heart. This is one of the greatest instrumentalities of the Church. If you read the Writings you will appreciate the sermons; you will have something to talk about and to reflect upon. We have a great deal to talk about in the Church. And if we do not wish to talk about spiritual things, death is near. The Writings give us a great deal to reflect upon. We must attend to our daily uses, but there are times when we can read, and talk and reflect about spiritual things. Reflection leads to repentance. Who has pot been inspired to repentance by reading the Writings and by reflection? The state of the natural man then appears to us as it does to the angels, and they can give us support in our struggles to resist temptation. To enter interiorly into the Writings is to have all these benefits brought present to us. Every one can look into himself and acknowledge that he might have done better in this respect. We should do more of this great use to the Church than we have done in the past."

     Mr. Bowers: The remarks that have been made are such as to stir our souls to their very depths. This is a subject to be well considered We are told in the Writings that without doctrine the Word is not understood.

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The thing for the man of the Church to do is, to read these Heavenly Writings in which the Doctrine is revealed by the Lord out of heaven. NUNC LICET:--now it is permitted to enter intellectually, that is to say, understandingly and intelligently, into the mysteries of the Divine Word. When we consider of the Writings the thought of what they are,--that in them are revealed all things whatsoever that the finite mind of man can receive--is overwhelming. The Writings are full and complete; written for time and eternity. This is an idea that has not dawned upon the minds of many who call themselves New Churchmen. The idea that, in these Writings, we have a grand revelation of the Divine Truth! What a wonderful source of inspiration do we have in reading them! What a guidance in the performance of the uses of life!

     Mr. Kintner: Before I received the Doctrines of the New Church I made it a rule to study the Letter of the Word; but it was without the same satisfaction which I feel the more I read the Writings and the more I hear the truths which are there revealed. The reading of the Writings affects our social relations, and it affects our business relations. They teach us not to live for ourselves; by them there is an influence that goes out from each and every one of us. I don't think any of us give them enough study.

     Mr. Klein said that he was struck by the Bishop's remark, that the Church perishes when its members cease to read the Writings. The love dies when it is not fed by reading; and at the same time spiritual light decreases. It behooves us to avoid this; we must go to the Writings because it is our duty. If we do this we will actually receive benefit; the sphere of our lives will be uplifted. People have said that they feel discouraged because they cannot remember what they read. They must not be discouraged by this, because all that is read with affection remains stored up in the interior memory.

     Mr. R. W. Brown: Man must learn to love the truth. Love is the sacred flame. This love is not natural, it is acquired by self-compulsion for the sake of what is right. Self-compulsion is an important instrumentality. Mr. Pitcairn has spoken of regular hairy reading. There is a great deal involved in regularity; regularity is an ultimate of order into which heaven may inflow. To read with regularity man must first compel himself, but if his compulsion is for the sake of the truth, he will in time learn to do it from love.

     Mr. Uptegraff asked what means were to be employed to help the isolated.

     The Bishop said that we ought to keep this in mind, as it is the purpose of this organization.

     Rev. W. E. Brickman emphasized the importance of cultivating the reading and study of the Letter of the Word together with its internal sense. "We know that power is in ultimates, that the internal sense rests in and shines through the Letter. I believe that we ought to read and study the Letter of the Word with the end of seeing the internal glories contained therein. In so doing we much place ourselves in a very humble condition, we must realize that we are as nothing. The only good in us is what the Lord gives us through His Holy Word."

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     Mr. Synnestvedt, referring to Mr. Uptegraff's question, said: There is a practical side to this matter, in our relation to those who are not able to get to Church. We should be in the attitude of being willing to help them, and be ready, when opportunities occur, to take hold and do. We must not rush headlong without prudence. We should be zealous to extend our sphere; and the way to do this is to establish communication with the isolated ones. This may be done by means of visiting, publishing reports of meetings, etc.; but, these things would not be of great value, unless we manage to keep the flame burning in ourselves, and in our societies. If the flame here is not kept alive there will be little to communicate. We must begin by having the kingdom of the Lord rule in ourselves; it is written: "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and all these things will be added unto you."

     Mr. Synnestvedt also showed the application of this teaching to those whom we would help: that unless there were an affection in them obtained by reading the Word and the Writings, and by the effort to live according to them, our sphere could not reach them, still less aid them.

     Mr. Ed. Fuller supported this, by saying: Every man must co-operate; God helps those who help themselves.

     Mr. Schoenberger asked again whether it would be feasible to send out the sermons. It seemed to him that it would be a good means of establishing closer relations.

     Mr. Bowers thought Mr. Schoenberger's suggestion impracticable, saying that to prepare sermons and get them in shape to send out required an immense amount of work. "The Life always contains a good sermon. That is the best that can be done at present."

     The Bishop said: For the present we must keep in view what can be done. It is better to fall a little short, than endeavor to do too much. When we do begin something, the thing is to continue it. It is not healthy to undertake a thing and then give it up. We should consider any new departure in all its bearings, and first see whether we shall be able to sustain it.

     In any new movement in the Church the internal is formed first. A good beginning has been made in this meeting, in the fact that there is a general desire to take up the use. We have the uses of the General Church to sustain, and our general treasury is always in need; we must be cautious before proceeding to anything new. While we have made a beginning, we should realize that the use is in its beginnings, and therefore follow the indications of Providence. We are in the day of small things. The treasurer of the General Church asks me to inform you that the treasury is in need. We should do all in our power to sustain those uses which have already been taken up.

     Mr. Pitcairn spoke of the importance of sustaining the uses of the General organization. One means of keeping alive the sacred fire is to sustain the general uses of the Church, every individual should help to sustain these uses. We have a great number who contribute nothing; they will show interest, and keep it alive, by contributing something, however little.

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This is of vital importance. We ought to be able to sustain missionaries.

     The Bishop: By sustaining the uses of the General Body, you are sustaining the uses of this District. One of the present objects of District Assemblies is to get the assistance and fuller co-operation of the Districts. The Bishop is desirous of having the assistance of the ministers and of all. This body is a part of the greater body and is of use in the greater body. Some time in the future you will have a Bishop of your own. At present you are dependent upon the general body, and it is important that you should give your assistance to that body, until you are able to look after yourselves. The purpose of this organization is that you may be enabled to get into shape to do for yourselves. A good deal that is being done now by the General Body will be transferred to the District Assemblies in the future.

     Mr. Synnestvedt: Great things grow slowly; it is a matter of developing new states in the old. Things have to start from a centre. Here you have a centre; right here tonight there is a sphere that can be called a name. I believe that if the matter is placed before the rest in this District, merely through the Life, their affections will be awakened, and they will make efforts to attend future Assemblies.

     Mr. Ben. Fuller expressed his satisfaction and joy in the sphere and spirit which the meetings had developed, and said that he looked forward to the meetings of the future.

     After other expressions of appreciation and good will, it was resolved that the Assembly adjourn, with the understanding that it convene about the same time next year, at the call of the Bishop.

     On Tuesday evening, as an appropriate closing to the meetings, all joined in a Harvest Festival, or thanksgiving social.

     On Wednesday evening a Men's Meeting was held, which proved very interesting and instructive.

     It would be difficult, in the form of a report such as this, to give an adequate idea of the spirit and warmth which ran through the whole of the meetings; but it will not be forgotten. May we hope that the flame which burned so warm and bright at this time will continue to burn warmer and brighter still as years roll on and the Pittsburg Assembly grows, REGINALD W. BROWN,
Secretary.

MEMORIAL SERVICE FOR MR. ROBERT M. GLENN.

     It was with grave concern that the Bryn Athyn community heard, in the beginning of December, that Mr. Glenn was seriously ill. The following three weeks were a time of increasing suspense, during which all felt a sense of impending calamity. But, when after two of three flickerings up of hope, the end came on the morning of the 22d, the bereaved Society faced its loss, and viewed it in the way that becomes men of the New Church.

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     On the afternoon of the 24th the funeral service was held at Glenhurst, conducted by Bishop Pendleton. The address dwelt on the unreality of the appearance of calamity, when regarded in the light of Providence. Then, over the road that passes through the Cairnwood groves and orchards, the procession took its way, the hearse preceded on foot by Bishop Pendleton and Mr. Pitcairn as pall-bearers, together with Pastor Synnestvedt, while at either side walked the other pall-bearers, Mr. Asplundh, of the Academy corporation, and Mr. Glenn's three brothers-in-law. Behind followed many friends of all ages, who at every step of the way saw on either hand enduring evidences of thought and design and industry which our brother leaves behind him. In the snow-whitened cemetery we laid-away the worn-out body, and after the burial service left the spot which we had just adorned with flowers, as last love-tokens.

     Two or three hours later we gathered for the Memorial Meeting at the Church. After a short service, the pastor spoke on the privilege which we as Newchurchmen have in coming together at such times to realize anew and with particularity of application the truths of the other life and the beneficence of the Divine Providence. He touched on the wide variety and scope of the uses in which Mr. Glenn had been so eminent, and of his qualities as a counselor, parishioner, parent and husband. He had performed great uses, but these were not his, but the Lord's, and we should not allow ourselves to feel forsaken or discouraged, nor indulge our grief too much, but should unite ourselves the closer with Him in the love of the uses of the Church. The Pastor went on to speak of the importance of the influence of such devoted laymen in the Church, how by their the and interest and activity they perform a great use in the way of stimulating that co-operative and affirmative attitude without which the work of the priest is futile. This is insinuating good, and laymen can do it among their brother laymen, as no priest can. He spoke feelingly of the Society's great sympathy with the bereaved family.

     Mr. Odhner gave an interesting account of Mr. Glenn's antecedents and career, as well as of his father and grandfather. This account appears elsewhere in this journal.

     Bishop Pendleton spoke of Mr. Glenn as a friend and counselor, mentioning that he had first met him 29 years ago, and had known him ever since,--for the last seven or eight years intimately, as he had known few men beside; he felt that he had come to know his heart, and the love of that heart was a true love for the things of the Church. He was practical to an unusual degree in the planning and prosecuting of uses, but this was of less value,--great as it was,--than the quality and effect of his love, and his rational grasp and support of the Church and its principles, in which he had unusual insight. He has left a large place with us, but he has gone to a larger place, where he will continue to be present with us. When a man has gone into the other world he has not left us, as we know from the teachings as to the consociation of the two worlds; yet because we do not continue to see our departed friends it is hard to realize-tho' it is important that we do so--that the relation is even more intimate than that of which we are so conscious,--more intimate because they are in the world of living causes, of affection and thought, and so are able to exercise a more profound influence on our lives.

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And so from the larger place to which he has gone our brother will flow into the large brace which he has left. For in that world there is an immeasureable expansion and, as it were, atmosphere of uses which profoundly affect those in this world; and one who has made such a plane in this world as had our brother will be made an important medium of communication between the societies of the heavens and of good spirits, and the Church on earth. The good which the speaker could see in our brother's being taken now is that he can serve as such a medium for greater communication. The New Church on earth increases according to its increase in the world of spirits. We cannot know all that is involved in this, but we can know something. The Lord does not permit calamity unless He can bring out of it a great good. Then let us elevate our heart, and "Judge not according to the appearance, but judge just judgment." The speaker referred to the friends our brother has gone to meet, and also those he has never before known, who will be many; some of them he will feel as if he had always known,--as well or better than some of us he has known very well here, because of having been long conjoined with them in spirit by a common love.

     Mr. Bostock said that in coming with his family to Bryn Athyn this fall he had greatly anticipated having a closer intimacy with Mr. Glenn's ripe and interior form of mind than had hitherto been practicable, and spoke of his keen disappointment now, while bowing to the Lord's infinite knowledge of what is best. He read from Spiritual Diary n. 5002-3, concerning the four reasons which determine the length of the life of man; viz.; 1. on account of uses to this world; 2. on account of uses to spirits as resting place and support, while he is yet in this world; 3. on account of use to himself in the world; and 4. on account of use in the other life. He commented that we hence may know and trust that no matter how important and indispensable any one of our number may seem to be, his being taken from us shows that he is not really needed here, either by ourselves or the dwellers in the other world, and that he has attained his measure of regeneration; and that in such losses spiritual consolation is the only true sort. He also read n. 3724 of the Diary, showing how, out of the apparent disorder produced by what are called accidents and misfortunes, Providence is bringing out its wonderful design, even as out of the heap of materials for a palace grows the plan of the architect.

     Mr. Acton spoke of this memorial meeting as coming like a confirmation of what had been said at similar recent meetings, that the departure of Newchurchmen from earth strengthens the Church in the other world. As to those who had gone before so with Mr. Glenn, we had an interior confidence that he was in the interior love of the Church; his presence and work in the other world would be of great benefit to the Church he is now to enter. After expressing deep sympathy with the family, he referred to a common but mistaken idea that when more than twenty years elapse after the death of one consort it is a sign that they are not to live together to eternity, because the first to die will have entered heaven and been married there.

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Mr. Acton pointed out that no one is prevented from entering heaven for any external reason. When a man is in an interior desire for heaven he enters and dwells therein. But if his true consort be still on earth, he cannot be said to be fully in heaven as yet, because his happiness is not complete until he has the ultimate presence there of his heart's choice. And so it is with the one left on earth; he or she is interiorly in heaven so far as in the Lord, but he is not in full heavenly joy until he again rejoices in the presence of the consort who has gone before.

     Mr. Asplundh, Mr. Glenn's successor in the Treasurership of the Academy and long associated with him in the active uses of that body and of the Church in general, said that he wished that he had a tongue of gold to express himself on the quality and usefulness of his late associate. After a brief but warm tribute he intimated his view of the use this departure could be to us as a body, in giving us an opportunity to show our affection for the Church which he had so well served. We had rested too much on him, and we would have a stronger society if we learned to rely more on our own efforts, as a band of united workers.

     Mr. Hicks spoke of Mr. Glenn's remarkable usefulness in our society. He was a many-sided man,--artistic, an architect, a thorough musician, a business man, and a humorist,--a man who could analyze with remarkable accuracy one's mind, and reach his plane of thought. He was so ready that it is to be feared that we over-worked him--drew too heavily on his vitality. Not a strong man, temperate and economic in his habits, he yet was lavish and prodigal in his performance of uses. On the natural plane it seems strange he was not permitted to remain, but he was needed on the other side, and we here will still not lose his good offices.

     Mr. Wells dwelt upon Mr. Glenn's remarkably sympathetic quality, and the value of his counsel and support to those in trouble. He always seemed to meet one on his own plane and appreciate his difficulties and help point out the way to meet them. Nearly if not quite every one of us had experienced this.

     Mr. Vinet gave his experience in confirmation of Mr. Well's point in a matter quite important to himself. He also said that Mr. Glenn in order to help a friend would perform in the most natural way any kind of service that seemed needful, even of a menial sort. He spoke also of his open and well-known hospitality, which had been most welcome and enjoyable to himself and wife on their arrival in this country.

     The formal meeting was closed with the singing of a hymn, after which the friends gathered together in a large circle and, after a toast to the Church, further remarks were made. Mr. Pitcairn called attention to Mr. Glenn's peculiar qualifications for answering the inquiry he would meet with from our departed friends, "What news from earth?"--and Mr. Childs contrasted the practice of building monuments for the dead, with the New Church way, which is for men to build their own monuments. This was eminently true of Mr. Glenn, for the whole of Bryn Athyn is largely a monument to him, its every feature bearing the stamp of his talents, care and energy.-

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Mr. Starkey quoted from the Psalmist concerning the upright man, "The end of that man is peace;" and said that though in many respects our brother's life had not been externally peaceful, we know that there must have been that internal peace which though not very consciously felt so long as the body and its cares encumber, is interiorly present with the faithful, supporting him and making it possible for him to sustain the battle. He also spoke of the unremitting care of our New Church physicians, and expressed confidence that all had been done that human effort and skill could do to prolong Mr. Glenn's life.
CHURCH NEWS 1902

CHURCH NEWS       Various       1902

     FROM OUR CORRESPONDENTS.

     Baltimore, Md. The work of the Circle is prospering and growing. Instead of services on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, the Coming of the Lord was celebrated on the Sunday following Christmas. In the morning, services were held as usual at the hall on the corner of Baltimore and Gay streets, the special feature being an exposition of the Doctrine of the Lord, as presented in the Nine Questions. In the evening there was a special celebration for the children at which the prophecies concerning the Lord's Coming and their fulfillment were recounted and dainty boxes of candy and nuts distributed. An especially enjoyable part of the programme was the singing of songs by the children with much vim and expression.

     On New Year's Eve the circle met at the home of Mr. Peter Knapp to celebrate the occasion by a "clock-meeting," so-called because it was thought that a "watch-meeting" would not be imposing enough. The meeting was graced by the presence of the ladies; some of the children were also present. The sphere and value of the meeting were much enhanced by the presence of two visitors from Huntingdon Valley, Rev. C. Th. Odhner and Mr. C Hj. Asplundh.

     As the midnight hour approached all assembled in the parlor where brief religious services were held: the first eight verses of the twenty-first chapter of Revelation were read, followed by the explanation as given in the Apocalypse Revealed of what is spiritually meant by the passing away of the former heaven and the former earth and the making new of all things. The services were followed by toasts to the Church, the New Church in Baltimore, the Past Year, the Distinctiveness of the New Church, Conjugial Love and also one to Rev. F. E. Waelchli, to whose labors the Circle largely owes its existence.

     On the afternoon of New Year's day a number of the friends assembled at the home of Mr. Rudolf Behlert, where the Rev. C. Th. Odhner baptized Mr. Behlert's infant son. Shortly afterwards the ladies assembled and organized the Ladies' Aid Society, electing officers and discussing the uses to be performed and "means and ways."

     On the following Sunday services were held as usual at the hall, preceded by the opening of the newly-organized Sunday School, which is to meet at the homes of the members of the Circle.

     Brooklyn. After an interval of six months, services have at last been again held here. The hall in which we meet is quite a large one and is fitted rather for the Society we hope to be in fifty or a hundred years from now than for our present numbers. However, at the services on Jan. 5, when Mr. Acton administered the Holy Supper, no one felt or expressed any discomfort at the size of the room.

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There were twelve at these services, among whom we were glad to see our friends Mr. and Mrs. Hicks, of Bryn Athyn. There were ten communicants.

     Bryn Athyn, Pa. The Funeral Service of our beloved and honored friend, Mr. Glenn, was held on December twenty-third. The service took place in the hall at Glenhurst, and the trustful sphere in the house effected all as they listened to the reading by our Bishop of those beautiful words from the psalm--'The LORD reigneth," etc. The service was closed with the bearing of the coffin down the stairs and through the hall, where a solemn stillness reigned; a carriage draped in white, with smilax intertwined, received the coffin and then slowly moved down the drive, while the little procession, winding through the woods, with the snow falling gently around, followed the earthly remains of our respected friend to their final resting place.

     A very impressive Memorial Service took place in the evening; this will be spoken of at length elsewhere in the Life.

     On December 24, at six o'clock p. m., our regular Children's Festival was held. The Pastor read about the birth of the Lord, and then explained what was meant by the representations placed on either side of the chancel. The one showed the Star of Bethlehem shining above the manger, and the other was a picture of the heavenly host looking down on the shepherds watching their sheep on the field below.

     Some Christmas songs were sung, and the customary offerings were given; the children receiving in return a little present of fruit, which seemed to be appreciated even by the very little folks who summoned courage for the occasion to secure it.

     The Holy Supper was administered on Christmas day, and the eloquent discourse delivered on this occasion was felt to contain a great deal that will be useful to think of during the coming year.

     A very delightful meeting of the teachers of the local School took place on December 31. Education was the subject in general and a dainty refreshment provided by one of our leading spirits added very much to the festivity of the occasion.

     The loving-cup was passed around that we might drink the health of our co-workers in the Spiritual World: Mr. Cowley and Miss Jessie Moir, who have done, and are doing, so much for our Bryn Athyn local School.

     Some short speeches were made, and, I think, on returning home, a feeling of fresh effort was felt for the work in the future.

     On New Year's morning, our friends celebrated the event by turning out at sunrise, and assembling for worship at the Club House. A short appropriate service was followed by a breakfast (also very appropriate); and after the pangs of hunger were somewhat appeased Mr. Synnestvedt took the opportunity to lay some projects before the society which he wished to be carefully considered.

     Miss Smith, with the aid of the Young Folks' Club, gave a very successful German on the evening of January 3. The Seminary and College were invited, and many entirely original figures made it interesting and enjoyable for all who took part. The Parish School reopened on January 6. A very lively social followed in the afternoon.

     Miss Venita Pendleton and Mr. R. B. Caldwell, of Pittsburg; Mr. Warren Potts, of Hartford, Conn.; Dr. Cranch, of Erie; Mr. Raymond Cranch, of Brooklyn, and Mr. Charles F. Browne, of Chicago, made welcome though short visits during the past month. L. E. P.

     Academy Schools. The Schools reopened after the Christmas holidays on January 6th with an addition of two scholars, Miss Esther Boggess, of Middleport, and Mars Wagar, of Cleveland.

     The Gymnasium, fitted with the best and latest appliances, is now ready for use, and comes in for a share of daily experimentation by pupils of both sexes, who will shortly receive systematic instruction from Professor Doering and Miss Sherman.

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     The Chemical Laboratory and Physics Room are not quite ready for use, and the Museum awaits the hand of some student of antiquities and curiosities with a fondness for arrangement. I spoke in former notes of the future in store for those who will delight to make the new building more and more the home of the Academy work, and the Museum and Library will no doubt come in for a share of attention when it is realized what great and lasting value the articles and books on their shelves will be in the living uses of the Academy Educational work. W. B. C.

     Glenview, Ill. On December 23 we came together at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Burnham, in a memorial meeting for Mr. Robert Glenn, who had passed away at Bryn Athyn the day before. All expressed the greatest appreciation of Mr. Glenn s steadfast loyalty and of the great use he has performed to the Church, while several anecdotes brought him very near to us. Those who had had the good fortune to see anything of his home life spoke of it as ideal, and Mrs. Glenn has the sincere and heartfelt sympathy of all the Glenview and Chicago members.

     In our society, as no doubt in others, Christmas is preeminently an occasion for the children; if they are made happy it is a "Merry Christmas" all around.

     Our celebration this year was somewhat similar to that of last. The chancel was completely draped in white festoons, with holly; on one side was a table for offerings and on the other a box containing a present for each of the forty-eight children who were considered old or young enough to appreciate the honor.

     The darkened room filled with the sweet odor of incense was lit by the many candles placed in brackets and candelabra throughout the chancel. Many thought the decorations were the best we have had. The feature of the celebration was the children's responsive service, and their beaming little faces for that one hour were ample reward for all who had helped in the preparations.

     The New Year was ushered in with a very successful social at the Glenview Club House, and the way our host and hostess (our pastor and his wife) rang out the old and in the new, bodes well for the social life of the coming year. L. G.

     Middleport, O. All the events to be chronicled this month centered around Christmas. First there was the Christmas sermon, on Sunday, December 22, which gave the spiritual significance of the Three Wise Men and the Star of the East.

     Then the children had a service at the home of Mr. Klein on Christmas Day. The house was decorated with holly and laurel and there was the usual representation of the Christmas story. Mr. Klein addressed the children and they repeated verses from the Word and sang several songs from the Hosanna, after which numerous candles were lighted and fruit distributed.

     There were many who came home to Middleport for the holidays beside several visitors: Miss Clara Hanlin from Glenview, Messrs. Will Hanlin, Ernest Gilmore, Chas. Ebert and Dr. Boggess from Philadelphia, Misses Julia and Esther Boggess from Columbus, Mr. Carl Semple and Leo Williams from Oil City, Mrs. Louis V. Riefstahl from Chicago, and Messrs. John and Sam Hackett from Indian Territory.

     There were three successful socials. The first was a "swap party" given by Miss Ida Semple on Christmas night. The second was an informal reception given for; Mrs. Riefstahl at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Klein on Sunday, December 29th. The third was a Literary party given by Miss Frances McQuigg and Mrs. Lena Davis on New Year's eve.

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Each guest represented a book, and Progressive Literary Riddles was the order of the evening. Just at midnight Mr. Klein read the last chapter of the Word and all sang "Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem."

     The Holy Supper was administered the first Sunday in January, and on that evening, instead of the usual Doctrinal Class, Mr. Klein gave an account of the life of Mr. Robert M. Glenn and the great uses he had done for the Church. This led to a talk on Church history in which the great work the Academy has done was dwelt upon.

     On the Sunday preceding Christmas, just before services began, Mr. Louis Cooper, acting in the name of the Middleport Society, presented Mr. Klein with a beautiful blue stole. The gift was a surprise to him and was specially appreciated by him. The Middleport Society also sent a handsome polished oak rocker to Mrs. Klein on Christmas day. T. K.

     Parkdale, Ont. On December 22d a special Christmas service was held. The Pastor, in place of a sermon, delivered instructive addresses on the subject of the Incarnation. The same evening there was also a short service, at which the usual Christmas offerings were made, the result being most encouraging, as it will enable the Society to make another substantial reduction on the mortgage debt. Before separating, news was received of the passing away into the Spiritual World of Mr. Glenn, and in accordance with the desire then expressed a memorial service was held on Monday evening, at which our Pastor instructed us from the work on Heaven and Hell, concerning entrance into the Spiritual World; many pleasant recollections of our departed friend were given by those present, deep sympathy being expressed for Mrs. Glenn and family.

     Great activity prevailed after our business meeting in September, as much had to be done preparing for the Ontario Assembly, the largest task being the laying of floors. Funds were promptly provided to purchase the necessary material, and willing hands soon transformed the basement of our building into two commodious rooms, one of which has aptly been designated the "Dining Hall."

     Every effort was put forth to make the second annual meeting of the Ontario Assembly a success, and the result was most gratifying. On Dec. 31st a goodly contingent arrived from Berlin, and two isolated receivers from Penetanguishene. Besides Bishop Pendleton we were glad to have with us the Rev. Messrs. Alfred Acton, J. E. Bowers and Reginald W. Brown (making in all seven priests). The total attendance at the sessions was ninety-two. The Assembly took the form of a decennial celebration of the separation from the Canada Association. Interesting papers were read by the Revs. F. E. Waelchli and E. S. Hyatt, which led to well sustained and animated discussion, including some stirring speeches. On New Year's morning, in addition to the meetings advertised, a gathering in the parlor of the Gladstone Hotel was arranged as a little surprise party for our guests under the auspices of the "Brotherhood of Man" (for information concerning which address the founder and "High Chief" promoter, Mr. R. B. Caldwell). Thirty-six men were present. While the spirit of fun was abundantly in evidence, more serious things were by no means forgotten and a most enjoyable time was spent.

     The usefulness of the District Assembly as a means of stimulating a love for the Church and mutual friendship among its members is I fully recognized in this locality. C. B.

     Pittsburg. The past month has been a very busy and happy one for us in many ways, altho' we feel a loss in the death of two such very active members in the Church as Mr. Cowley and Mr. Glenn, and it is hard to realize that in one sense they have left us to go to a much wider and more internal sphere of use in the other world.

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     The two Memorial Meetings were inspiring! Both men were so self-sacrificing in their work for the Church, the one in the leading and teaching of little children, and the other in the many, many offices he filled for both Church and School.

     The children were much engrossed for several weeks before Christmas with the preparations for their Festival. Mr. Brown spoke to them of how the Lord came on earth like a little child even like one of them. A pretty little scene had been prepared representing the Wise Men coming to worship the Lord; it was a surprise to the children and much delighted them.

     The grown people had their service on Christmas morning.

     We have had three socials this month, can unprecedented occurrence, but we have been trying to remedy a lack of social pleasures, something too important to be neglected in the Church, and I have little doubt but that in time we shall succeed. The young people began with an informal dance on the 18th, and from all accounts it must have been a great success. Mrs. Uptegraff and Mrs. Schoenberger were the hostesses at a social on the 30th for both old and young. How nice it was to have our young people, who are studying at the Academy home from school on their Christmas vacation, with all their enthusiasm and capacities for enjoyment; and how fine to have both old and young together for mutual pleasure.

     The annual meeting of the Society was held on the 8th of January. Supper was served and Mr. Brown made some remarks as to the progress of the Church both internal and external, and the uses thereof such as Worship, Singing and the Doctrinal Class. The Treasurer's report was favorable and showed progress. A lively discussion took place on the advisability of returning to a partial use of the hymns in worship,--some feeling that it was a useless return to the old music and to states not distinctively New Church; others advocating the hymns because they were easy enough for all to join in with more spirit.

     With a few appropriate remarks one of the gentlemen on behalf of the Society presented to Mr. Brown a copy of Clark's Commentaries,-a belated but very useful Christmas gift. For the faithful services of Mr. Arthur Lechner and Mr. Robert Caldwell in playing for and leading the singing, the Society presented to each of them a copy of the Word which, it was hoped, would show the Society's appreciation of their efforts.

     One more member has gone from our midst to join the Society in the other world, Mrs. Hunter, who passed away on December 29th. She was an old and faithful believer in the Doctrines and her presence at both Church and Social gatherings will be much missed.

     We have had, very recently, the pleasure of a visit from Bishop Pendleton. He administered the Holy Supper on Tuesday, January 12th, and in the evening conducted the Doctrinal Class, the subject being "Redemption." I think we all feel much benefited by these quarterly visits from our Bishop; he brings with him such an interest in the Church at large that he gives us more enthusiasm and incentive to work than ever before. A.

     The Philosophy Club held a successful meeting. at which twelve members were present, at the house of Mr. F. Lechner. The subject of the evening was taken from the Animal Kingdom. F. G. L.

     Philadelphia. Christmas was observed with services on Christmas morning. The hall was tastefully decorated, and there was some special singing,--two solos, and a quartet.

     The Holy Supper was administered by the Rev. C. Th. Odhner on the first Sunday in January. C. H. E.

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     Mr. Bowers Missionary Work.

     On Saturday, December 14th, a sudden and rather severe change in the weather took place at Erie. From being mild and spring-like, it turned into a snow-storm, which lasted through Sunday, 15th. Consequently, the attendance at our service, at the home of Dr. and Mrs. Cranch, was somewhat smaller than usual.

     Two days were passed in Buffalo. I had the pleasure to meet, at the home of Mr. James A. Pincott and family,-who have often kindly entertained me,--the Rev. Frank A. Gustafson, the New Church pastor in that city. The society is progressing under his ministrations, and it is hoped that there will be growth and increase.

     On December 19th, I went to Hamilton, Ontario, and called on some of the members of the Church in that city. The situation there is a peculiar one. There are twenty or twenty-five persons who profess to believe in the new Doctrines. During the past two years or more, this circle of believers has not encouraged the visits of any minister of the Church. It was decided that instead of having the ministrations of a pastor or missionary, there were to be meetings and instruction by a lay reader,--the intention being to raise a fund for the purpose of buying the library of New Church books owned by the late Richard Brierley. But in order to carry out this idea, it was proposed that they organize themselves into a society. This, however, was opposed by about half the number, who refused to join the organization, and who afterwards ceased to attend the meetings. To the question whether these latter now hold meetings separately, it was answered that they do not; and it was thought that they attend different places of old church worship. It is to be regretted, that on the part of some of those who have joined the new organization there is evidently a disposition to repudiate the ministry of the New Church. And it is to be hoped that as they proceed in the study of the Heavenly Doctrines, they will in the course of time come to see, rationally, that it is impossible for a society of the Church to exist without minister, or the ministrations of a man who is qualified and authorized to lead in Divine Worship, to preach, and to administer the Sacraments of Baptism and the Holy Supper.

     Being informed of a young man in Hamilton, who was desirous to have his children baptized, I called upon him. He had himself been introduced into the New Church through the gate of Baptism by the writer, at a meeting in Hamilton about three years ago. He invited me to his home, and after supper,--his wife also being favorable to the New Church,--their two bright little boys were baptized. The older one had been "christened" by a Presbyterian clergyman. The father, Mr. James Lennie, came from Scotland some ten years ago; a few years since he became a receiver of the Doctrines, and is a diligent reader of the Writings, and a believer in the distinctiveness of the New Church.

     On invitation, the night was passed with an Episcopalian clergyman, residing in Hamilton, who some ten years ago became a believer in the general doctrines of the New Jerusalem, but who remains connected with "the Church." His position is a peculiar one. His Bishop has refused to give him charge of a congregation, on account of his change of views; but still he receives frequent invitations to officiate from the rectors of the diocese. And he endeavors to communicate new truths to his hearers. According to the Doctrines this idea is erroneous, and the endeavors fruitless, but every man must be left to act in freedom.
JOHN E. BOWERS.

FROM OUR CONTEMPORARIES.

     UNITED STATES. The Rev. Emanuel F. Goerwitz, the assistant minister of the society in Boston, having accepted a call to the pastorate of the society in Bridgewater, the Boston Society has extended an invitation to the Rev. Henry Clinton Hay, of Brockton, to become associate pastor with the Rev. James Reed, in order to afford the latter an opportunity to devote more time to his duties as general pastor of the Massachusetts Association and as president of the Convention's Theological School.

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     The dedication of the new chapel of the Theological School in Cambridge took place on December 1st. The Rev. Messrs. Seward, Reed, Wright, Goddard and Warren took part in the dedicatory services. President Eliot, of Harvard University; Dean Peabody, of the Harvard Divinity School, and other distinguished personages were present in the audience. Surely, the Church in New England is no longer "in the wilderness!"

     The ordination of Mr. Arthur Mercer, the officiating minister of the first English Society of Baltimore, took place on December 15th, the Rev. Frank Sewall officiating. Mr. Mercer, (who is not a son of Rev. L. P. Mercer) was born at New Orleans thirty-six years ago, was educated at the Urbana University in his boyhood, and received his preparation for the New Church Ministry at the Convention's Theological School.

     A rather peculiar, yet, on the whole, encouraging condition exists in the society at Wilmington, Del. There are at present from fifty to eighty per cent. more communicants than there were ten years ago, although the nominal membership has been reduced nearly twenty per cent, through deaths and removals from the city.

     The little New Church Society at Louisville, Ky., is struggling desperately with adverse circumstances. The membership his been greatly reduced during the last two years, and came very near going under. The few remaining: faithful members have no house of worship and cannot afford to rent a hall, and the resident minister, Rev. Abraham Knobel; is forced to secure his support by secular work. For some reason the Board of Missions of the General Convention has refused to extend to the Society the aid which was intended for it by the Du Pont Trust ($300 per annum).

     The Rev. John Whitehead, besides conducting Sunday School and the regular Sunday Services at Detroit, also leads a class of earnest young people on Sunday afternoons, and delivers missionary lectures on Sunday evenings: The Wednesday classes are conducted as before. Rev. W. L. Gladish was with the society two weeks, while Mr. Whitehead was visiting the society at Lakewood, Ohio.

     The Indianapolis Society, under the Rev. W. L. Gladish, has introduced some new features into its Church services, in the effort to make these more doctrinal and practical, more distinctively of the New Church. Thus, in addition to the two lessons from the Letter of the Word, a third is read from the Writings of Swedenborg. A summary of the internal sense is also read before reading the Psalm for the day.

     The Rev. E. D. Daniels delivered an address on "the Human Form" at the Union Thanksgiving services in a Presbyterian church at La Forte, Ind. Mr. Daniels, in his address, mentioned that in Religion there were still the distinguishing features of Creed, but there was a growing oneness of spirit and ability to conform to oneness in form. This statement, delivered by a New Church minister to a number of ministers "of various denominations," would be apt to convey to them the impression that the New Church was growing into a "oneness of spirit" with the Old Church. This, unfortunately, is no doubt true,---in some places.

     At the Thanksgiving celebration in the Kenwood parish, Chicago, the pastor explained: the spiritual significance of the three annual feasts of the Israelites, and of the nature of Thanksgiving, among New Church people, to whom spiritual rather than material prosperity and blessings should be the subjects for Thanksgiving. At Christmas, all family celebrations were made subordinate to the common religious celebration.

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At the latter, six tableaux, prepared by the young people, were introduced, representing the Annunciation to Mary by the angel Gabriel, the Wise Men following the Star, the Nativity, the vision of the Shepherds in the field, the visit of the Shepherds to the stable, and the Adoration of the Magi. The tableaux were very beautiful and artistic; each scene was exhibited twice once with an explanation for the younger children, and then again in silence. The Kenwood Sunday School, which had dwindled down to nothing during the past year, has reorganized and is doing successful work.

     CANADA. The Rev. Benjamin Unruh, of Pawnee Rock, Kansas, recently made a very encouraging journey to German New Church circles and societies in the Northwestern provinces. Arriving at Gretna, on the Canadian side, on November 7th, he baptized six adults on the following Sunday. He next visited the brethren at Rosenfeld, where the Holy Supper was administered and a society was organized. Continuing his journey further to the Northwest, via Winnipeg, he arrived at Rosthern, on November 15th, where, during a stay of five days, he preached, administered the Communion, and, through the sacrament of Baptism, introduced six adults and twenty-eight children in New Church. After a visit to the circle in the neighboring town of Hague, he started on the homeward journey, on November 20th. The work among the Mennonites is thus bearing abundant fruit in the Great Northwest.

     GREAT BRITAIN. The N. C. Evidence Society held its annual meeting in London on Oct. 29th. all partook of that hopeful optimistic tone which distinguishers meetings of N. C. Evidence Societies. According to them there is so much interest for the New Church in the world, men are so ready to believe, so many are already all but New Church men, that as the years roll by and the membership of Convention and Conference decreases rather than increases, one is inclined to wrinkle his brows and wonder where all those hungering multitudes go to in the times between Evidence Society meetings. Among the ambitions of the members of the English Society seems to be, to engage in a newspaper controversy about the doctrines, or to speak or preach in Old Church Sunday Schools and Churches. Mr. A. T. Barlow, referring to the readiness of the Old Church to receive the teachings of the New, said that when he was an Old Church preacher he had found that his most acceptable sermons were those "most distinctly New Church" in character. But he was obliged to leave his congregation (in which, however, he saw much encouraging "receptivity"), as he would not consent to omit reference to Swedenborg. We should think this would have opened his eyes as to the quality of the "receptivity" in the Old Church. To accept the New Church and not Swedenborg is like accepting the Lord and not the New Testament. He, however, seems to have repented of his action, as he found the Old Church could be reached better from within,--but then he also found he was not allowed to preach "from within." Where now is the receptivity?" Mr. Jobson spoke in a different and opposite vein. According to him infidelity is now much changed for the better and Old Church ministers are coming to regard us as friends. Of course, Mr. Jobson ascribes this to the spread of the doctrines, but another reason may be that the members of the New Church, forgetting the distinctiveness of the past, are attempting to ignore and break down the walls which separate the New Church from the Old.

     Glasgow. (Cathedral Street.) On December 5th was celebrated the eighteenth "Russell soiree," an annual social meeting endowed by one of the pioneer members of the society. According to established custom Mr. Thomas Downes gave a sketch of the life of the founder of the soiree whose friend he had been.

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The sketch "was so lifelike and interesting that the meeting expressed the hope that Mr. Downes would use his years of retirement to become the 'historian of the Church in Scotland.'" The chairman, Rev. J. F. Buss, pointed out that the first "Russell" was held on Dec. 5, 1883, the centenary of the first public meeting of those interested in the Writings.

     Rev. J. F Buss having resigned from his pastorate in Glasgow is now engaged in delivering missionary lectures in Scotland. He has visited Kilmarnock, Perth and Stirling.

     At each of these places several questions (written) were answered.

     SWEDEN. In view of the present great spiritistic movement in Stockholm, lectures on the subject of spiritism have been delivered, recently by the Rev. C. J. N. Manby and the Rev. A. T. Boyesen. The latter delivered his lecture in the great hall of the Academy of Sciences to an audience of several hundred persons. The success of the lecture was surprising, as an entrance fee of one crown was charged.

     The twelfth volume of the Swedish translation of the Arcana Coelestia has now been published, and Mr. Manby is at work on the thirteenth volume.
Wanted 1902

Wanted              1902


ANNOUNCEMENTS.



     WANTED, a New Church girl to help with baby, and to do plain sewing and other light duties. Address MRS. GEO. M. COOPER, 1628 Mt. Vernon St., Philadelphia
Notice 1902

Notice       C. TH. ODHNER       1902

     The Members and Friends of the on General Church of the New Jerusalem are hereby notified that no General Assembly will be held year. C. TH. ODHNER, Secretary G. C. N. J.

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FRANCIS EDMUND BOERICKE 1902

FRANCIS EDMUND BOERICKE       JOHN PITCAIRN       1902


NEW CHURCH LIFE.
Vol. XXII. MARCH, 1902.          No. 3.
     A SKETCH

     Dr. Boericke was born in Glauchau, in Saxony, Germany, on June 8th, 1826. His father was a manufacturer of woollen goods. His great-grandfather; who was a Scotchman named Guthrie, left his native land, went to Holland, where he married a Dutch woman, and changed his name to Boericke. His grandfather went from Holland to Glauchau.

     Young Boericke received a good education, and after the political reaction, which followed the revolutionary movement of 1848, he became dissatisfied with the prospects in Germany, and in 1849 he emigrated to America and settled in Philadelphia. In the following year he became acquainted with Rudolph L. Tafel, then a youth of eighteen years; Mr. Tafel was occupied in translating Le Boys des Guay's Letters to a Man of the World into German. Mr. Boericke was invited to assist in the work, and, becoming interested in the book, soon became an ardent receiver of the Doctrines of the New Church. In 1852 he united with the Philadelphia First Society, then under the pastorate of Rev. W. H. Benade. In 1853, at the suggestion of Mr. Benade, Mr. Boericke together with Mr. Tafel opened a small depository for the sale of New Church literature and published several little works, one of which was The Dewdrop, a small but bright New Church Magazine for children, edited by Mr. Benade. As they could not depend for their support upon the sale of New Church literature, at the suggestion of Mr. Benade and with the co-operation of Dr. Constantine Hering, they established a Pharmacy for the sale of Homoeopathic Medicines.

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The latter branch proved a great success. Mr. R. L. Tafel was connected with Mr. Boericke for about six months and in the latter part of 1853 left the business in order to devote himself exclusively to professional career. Mr. Boericke for several years kept the writings of the Church for sale in his pharmacy.

     In 1857, in order to improve himself in his use as a Homoeopathic pharmacist, he took a course in the Hahnemann College, and graduated as Doctor of Medicine, but "ever practiced as a physician. In the same year he married Miss Elise Tafel, daughter of Dr. Leonhard Tafel, and thus became the brother-in-law of Rudolph L. and Louis H. Tafel. In that year a separation took place in the Philadelphia First Society. Dr. Boericke followed Mr. Benade, and was one of the founders of the "Philadelphia Society," worshiping in Cherry street. He remained a strong supporter of this Society, even after Mr. Benade, in 1865, removed to Pittsburg.

     In the meantime his house had a centre for the German New Church people in Philadelphia, where for some time they held Sunday evening meetings.

     About the year 1866 Dr. Boericke invited the Rev. A. O. Brickman to lecture in German in Philadelphia. A number of persons becoming interested, a German New Church Society was formed, and a hall was rented, in which public services were conducted by Dr. Leonard Tafel, who served as pastor of the Society until he removed to Staten Island, N. Y., in 1869.

     In the meantime the Homoeopathic pharmacy had greatly flourished, and in the year 1860 Dr. Boericke formed a partnership with his brother-in-law, Adolph J. Tafel, under the well-known firm name of "Boericke and Tafel."

     In the year 1870 the Rev. Louis H. Tafel, who had been working as a missionary in the South, became the pastor of the German Society in Philadelphia. Two years later the "German Missionary Union of the New Church in America" was founded and Dr. Boericke presented to it his entire stock of German New Church literature.

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     On the 19th day of June, 1876, twelve prominent New Churchman met at the home of Dr. Boericke, No 222 Franklin street, Philadelphia, and organized "The Academy of the New Church," Dr. Boericke being selected as Treasurer of the body. In the year 1877 there was a general upheaval of the New Church Societies in Philadelphia. The majority of the Cherry Street Society united with the majority of the German Society and were joined by quite a number from the Philadelphia First Society. These sympathizers with the Academy now organized a new Society, under the name of "The Society of the Advent," and opened worship in the Academy's building in Cherry street with the Rev. Louis H. Tafel as pastor. The initiatory step towards this organization was taken at a meeting held at the county-seat of Dr. Boericke, Edenhill, near Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia.

     In the year 1882 Dr. Boericke retired from the Pharmacy business, retaining control of the Homoeopathic publishing branch, known a, the "Hahnemanian Publishing House."

     In the year 1887 Dr. Boericke became an invalid, through a complication of nervous diseases, which obliged him to retire from active business. He resigned as Treasurer of the Academy and went to California in the hope of regaining his health; but failing in this, he soon returned to Philadelphia.

     In the later part of 1888, Dr Boericke disagreeing with recent developments in the policy of the Academy, resigned from the body and retired to his country-seat, "Malvaruh," on Lake Keuka, New York State, a constant sufferer from his physical infirmities. In 1896 he returned to Philadelphia, where he resided to the time of his death.

     After fourteen years of great but patient suffering, he was finally released on the 17th of December, 1901. According to his desire his body was cremated at Chelten Hills Crematory, Philadelphia.

     Dr. Boericke leaves a widow and nine surviving children (five sons and four daughters), all of whom remain faithful to the Heavenly Doctrines which he loved so well.

     Conscientious in all his business dealings, his name was a synonym for honesty. Uniting high ideals with great business capacity his material success was well deserved. A firm believer in the Divine Authority of the Heavenly Doctrines, his faith never wavered. He was the type of a true New Church man.

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     "He had a wonderful memory, was a good conversationalist and even in his illness, when matters of the Church were discussed, he seemed to rise above his bodily sufferings."

     Until his health failed, his house was a centre for church meetings and social gatherings. His kindly manners, his hospitality, his cheerfulness, his generosity and his enthusiastic devotion to the New Church are pleasant memories to those who knew and appreciated him. We can rejoice with him,--released after many years of bodily suffering,--and we can well believe that his exemplary and useful life in this world has prepared him for a life of still greater usefulness in the world to which he has gone.
DIVINE SHEPHERD 1902

DIVINE SHEPHERD       Rev. DAVID H. KLEIN       1902

     The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. In pastures of herb He will make me to lie down. Unto waters of rest He will lead me. My soul He will recreate. He will lead me in the paths of justice for the sake of His name. Psalm xxiii:1, 2, 3.

     The twenty-third psalm, the first three verses of which constitute the words of our text, treats in general, we are told, of the New Church and at the same time of the new heaven. From beginning to end, there is held before us the picture of the tranquillity and peace of the New Church on earth and at the same time of the new heaven. As this state represents the fruition of all the efforts of the regenerating man, it holds forth before us the ideal condition of life provided by the Lord for all men. As an expression of this in the language of men, the Lord has seen it wise to put into the mouth of David, the Psalmist, words among the most beautiful and tender that can be found in the Word.

     The New Church, the interior life of which is so beautifully expressed correspondentially in this psalm, as the crown of all the churches, will enjoy an inward peace and interior beatitude of life, unknown in any of the churches which have gone before it; and in the richness and plentitude of the Divine truths with which the Lord blesses it, it shall never want.

     So in the new heaven now founded by the Lord there will be a security and sense of peace not present before. For by the Last Judgment effected by the Lord, He reduced the hells to order, He rendered firm and established the security and coherence of the heavens, and brought about an internal peace which can never be disturbed by further invasions of the hells.

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"In pastures of herb He will make me to lie down. Unto waters of rest He will lead me. My soul He will recreate."

     In the words of our particular text the Lord is correspondentially represented as the good shepherd, the pastor of the sheep. In their natural sense the words give a picture of idyllic rest and quiet content, where the sheep, in obedience to the leading of their master, follow him to the pastures of the tender herb, feed beside the still waters and are nourished in life and refreshed. There can be no more perfect natural image of tranquillity, of the absence of discord, fear or evil of any kind.

     Of all animals, lambs and sheep are those least prone to strife. Of all animals, none are more gentle, none more helpless or requiring more naturally, none with more of effacement of individuality. The whole character of the flock is to follow the leader, implicitly and faithfully, whithersoever he may lead them-whether over fields of verdure and of pleasure, or over stony stretches of sterility and pain.

     The internal sense of the text is that the Lord teaches and leads to the truths and goods of heaven and the Church. As flocks are nourished and their life sustained by the green pastures, so is the spiritual man, or the Church, nourished and supported by the truths and goods which make his heaven. The shepherd leads the flocks to pasture that they may feed as of themselves on what he there provides. So the Lord leads man to truth, that he may appropriate it in his life and that his spiritual character may be nourished, strengthened and preserved thereby. For all processes of nutrition by which man's body is developed, correspond to those forces of spiritual assimilation and appropriation by which his spiritual body is built up; and leading to pasture corresponds specifically to instruction which takes place with man throughout the whole period of his life.

     Herb, in a general sense, signifies truth, but the special Hebrew word in the text has reference more particularly to the young or tender herb, for the root meaning of the verb is "to sprout, to be green." The herb thus referred to corresponds to scientifics which are ultimate or first forms of truth with man.

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The vivid green characteristic of this early state of the plant, when, bursting the confines of winter, it comes with freshness in the dawn of spring, in a color corresponding to the natural or lowest degree of man's mind, to which all scientifics are at first addressed.

     A scientific is simply a statement of a truth, or truth in its ultimate form so clothed that it may be presented to the thought of man. It may be an instrument of good or of evil according to the state or condition of the recipient, and the use to which it is put. To the evil-disposed it is a dry husk, like chaff, spiritless, irritating, tedious without vitality. As such it is fitly described in Isaiah, "The waters of Nimrim shall be desolations, because the grass is withered, the herb is consumed, there is no green thing" xv:6.

     But to those in the affection of truth it is sparkling, clear-cut and active with vitality, as giving a more definite ultimate, and hence powerful form, to the living interior truth and good of which it is an expression. The green and tender herb in a good sense is said to signify the ultimate of perception. And in such a sense in application to the spiritual man of the Church and to the angels of heaven is it used in our text where the shepherd leads his flock in the pastures of tender herb. A like signification pertains to it in Zechariah, where it is said, "Ask ye of the Lord rain; in the time of the latter rain; so the Lord shall make bright clouds and give them showers of rain, to a man, herbs in the field" x: 1.

     As such the scientific is a delight because there is written in it the interior truth of life which contains the germ of all delight. This idea of truth is expressed in the text by "waters of rest"--"Unto waters of rest He will lead me."

     Water like wine and all liquids in general signifies, in its broad sense, truth, but truth under varying conditions. The bitter waters of Marah which the sons of Israel could not drink near the wilderness of Shur are truths which are undelightful to man because good is lacking and only when wood is cast into them do they become sweet. Waters, disturbed and troubled, represent the state of man's life when, in the pain and distress of conflict, he suffers the sorrows of temptation. Truths perverted or falsities are also represented by violent ragings of the deep, as when Pharaoh and his army were engulfed in the waters of the Red Sea--representing the state of the evil submerged in the falsities of the love of self.

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But waters of rest represent the state of peace when truths are applied to the uses of love. In the other world when a man is in the exercise of charity the sphere of all his affections and their derivative thoughts appears around him (at times) like limpid water.

     Not truth combating; not the Church militant, but the regenerating man in the fruition of his labors is here represented by the waters of rest in peace and serenity. The idea of rest is indicated also in the reference to the pastures of herb, for it says, "He will make me to lie down" in them, lying down denoting a state of tranquillity. "I will lie down in peace an sleep. For Thou, O Lord, makest me dwell securely." In the light of the particular correspondential significance given, we may turn again to the general teaching of the text that the Lord teaches and leads to the truths and goods of heaven and the Church, realizing that it expresses a state of tranquillity and peace, a heritage of the angels of heaven, which in moments of exaltation is given also to the man of the Church to feel and enjoy. It is this which constitutes the recreation of the soul mentioned in the text, the revival refreshment and sustaining of the spiritual man. "My soul He will recreate." The recreation or refreshment of the soul follows upon the reception with affection from the heart of the truths of faith and it represents a vivification of the spirit, an uplifting and strengthening which gives an invigorated tone to the spiritual organism. To the natural man it is difficult to conceive of the condition of life when man is refreshed by truths, and it is necessary for us to divest ourselves of the thought of truths as mere r abstract things, to get away from the formal and artificial conception of them and to realize that they are real and substantial.

     An evil man receives a stimulus and what appears like an exaltation--although in reality it is a degradation--from the contemplation of those falsities which conduce to his self-love. He delighted with all knowledges which give a new form or determination to his evil affections, and studies with an intemperate zeal everything that can advance his ends, strengthen his power and nourish his avarice or love of pleasure. He feels an unholy exultation, for means to his end are meat and drink to him.

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It is in the other life that his fruit turns to ashes on his lips, because pears that what had seemed so real on earth is in truth nothing and he, in spirit, wanders over deserts and dry places in painful ways.

     But truths, to the regenerating man, have real vitality because they are in the order of heaven and the whole of creation and the delight and recreation of the soul they bring is an enduring one. For, reaching even to the very ultimates and foundations of his character, they bear with them the animation and comfort of their ever living source--the Lord. There is no ratio of comparison between such, and the inwardly restless moving of the waters which represent the falsities of the love of self and the world.

     Alas, with our minimum of spiritual life and our abundance of instincts toward evil we are more in a condition to understand the latter than the former. And yet from time to time, if we will, the Lord does give us to feel something of that recreation of the soul meant by the waters of rest and the pastures of the tender herb. When, gathered together at the festivals of the Church, at feasts of charity with our brethren, or at worship, we are affected by the sphere of the truth go that we feel a sense of absolute security in the all-protecting power of the Church, a gladness of mind and elevation of thought, that takes us away from our propriums and the spheres of the world, superior to them for the time at least--then the Lord gives us to know something of the efficacy of truth in quickening the soul's life. Such states are necessary to the man of the Church as stepping stones on the way to the land of Canaan, as a foretaste of what the Lord provides in the new heaven. All truth, indeed, to be living, must have within it the affection which is the good of use. And, that good must be within truth in the state spiritually expressed in the first part of our text, is shown especially by the concluding sentence, "He will lead me in the paths of justice for the sake of His name." "Justice" always has relation to good, and the "paths of justice" are the ways or forms which good or love takes on in order that it may go forth in use. That the Lord's divine quality is present in such truth is indicated by the words, "For the sake of His name," the name of the Lord corresponding to his quality by which He is loved and worshiped.

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And indeed it is only because the Lord is in it that it has the power of recreating the Soul. No bare scientific statement of truth, no fact of nature, however interestingly stated or picturesquely chronicled, has this power within it, in itself.

     The Lord leads man to the truths and goods of heaven and the Church and He leads the regenerating man so that he shall never want. "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want." Want is the desolation arising from the lack of spiritual nourishment which consists in the things of science, intelligence and wisdom, and it is only the evil, who depart from the leading of the Divine Pastor of the flock, who suffer want.

     The Lord in His merciful Providence ever seeks to lead man so that he shall not want. No condition of life is too lowly, no state too degraded, no condition too hopeless, but that the Lord can present some form of truth adapted to that condition; so that the state even of the savage can be elevated to the plane where it may perceive some modicum of that delight which is of the pastures of the tender herb and of the waters of rest. But how does man have the requisite love and affection for the truths? What causes him to wish to turn from the paths of error, to which his whole being from heredity inclines, to the paths of justice? What motive prompts him to leave the fantastic but yet alluring pleasures of his natural loves? For through the eyes of self-love, viewed from that far distance, the pastures of herb and the waters of rest seem tame and barren of enjoyment.

     It is the remains of innocence implanted in childhood and, by the loving mercy of the Lord, given to him as a free gift to provide for the states of want which threaten to come upon him in his later life. The early states of tender love formed throughout the beautiful conditions of childhood--these constitute the basis upon which the Lord operates to arouse in man the affection of spiritual truth. These have within them the power to overcome any condition of want which may arise throughout the course of his life, if he permit the Lord to enkindle them and call them forth as opposed to the evils of his hereditary nature. So from the state of early innocence of childhood he passes to his final state of innocence of wisdom, where his soul is recreated by truths.

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     Let us ask here, What constitutes innocence, spiritually understood? for the definition which revelation gives us is not found in any philosopher's or metaphysician's code and is peculiar to the New Church.

     Innocence is the desire to be led by the Lord and not by self. Now the animals of the node of the shepherd are correspondential forms of innocence; for the character which distinguishes them above all others is their tendency to follow the leading of the shepherd. They follow their leader implicitly whithersoever he may lead them--whether over fields of verdure or over stony stretches of sterility. So do those of the Lord's spiritual fold who are in innocence follow implicitly the leading of His Divine Providence whithersoever it may lead, with an abiding trust that, if they follow, all will ultimately be well.

     The characteristic of innocence is absolute dependence on the Lord, just as the flock depend absolutely on the shepherd for protection from ravening wolves.

     Of all animals those of the flock are least prone to strife. So it is the characteristic of innocence that it seeks not to harm the neighbor. Strife among men arises from the fact that one seeks to impose his will upon another. But where innocence exists there is but one guiding will, and all seek to follow that, there is the unanimity and peace among men which comes from their possession of a common heritage, a common end, of life.

     The Lord is the High Priest of the Church, and, as such, is the Divine Pastor or Shepherd whose work of love is the salvation of human souls for heaven. He teaches and leads to the truths and goods of heaven and the Church. As every member of the Church looks to the Divine leading of the High Priest there is born a unanimity, a solidarity and strength of the flock which is absolutely impregnable to assaults from without and which no human force can interiorly disturb.

     The relation of a shepherd to his flock is so well exemplified in the relation of a governor of the Church over his people that common sentiment has caused men to take the word Pastor, which is the Latin word for Shepherd, and carry it over into our English tongue.

     The Lord as the Divine Pastor adjoins his office of the salvation of souls to men who are called priests or pastors.

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     Knowing that the Lord is the all in all of the Church, we can exalt and reverence the sacred office of the priesthood to the utmost, for it is the palladium of the Church's liberty and progress, and we are taught how to distinguish between it and the incumbents of the office.

     It is the pastor's office to teach men, in order that they may be led from truth to good. And the pastor leads in his instruction by indicating uses which are to be done. The excellence of the performance of these common uses depends on the unanimity with which the members of the Church follow the leading of their pastors. The happiness of each and the integrity of the whole as a flock depends on the spirit with which they seek to follow out the instruction they have received. But the pastor cannot gift men with the affection of the spiritual truths of the Church. He can present only what forms a basis for this. It avails not that he teach with conviction and fervor, or that he produce an artificial external stimulus, which reaches only to the surface of character. And this will be the only fruit of his labors unless man, by shunning his evils, opens his soul to the influx of Divine Life from above. The Lord is ever the first and the last, and the life which animates man and calls forth the remains of innocence into buds of hope and promise is from Him.

     As we, in simplicity of heart, follow the leading of our Divine Pastor, we shall come into the order of a true flock, and the bonds of a common purpose will unite us in that love of the neighbor which constitutes true charity. So united, the Lord can lead the flock to the pastures of the tender herb and the waters of rest, can bless the Church from time to time with that refreshment and elevation of life which we can realize fully and eternally in his new heaven beyond the borders of this life. "The Lord Jehovah shall feed His flock like a shepherd. He shall gather the lambs with His arms and carry them in His bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young."

     "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. In pastures of herb He will make me to lie down. Unto waters of rest He will lead me. My soul He will recreate. He will lead me in the paths of justice for the sake of His name."--Amen.

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SENTIMENTAL THEOLOGY 1902

SENTIMENTAL THEOLOGY       Rev. Alfred Acton       1902

     The Promise of Peace by Rev. John Worcester, pp. 196. Mass. N. C. Union.

     A sermon, to be a New Church sermon, that is, to be an exposition of the internal sense of the Word, must contain something of the distinctive revealed doctrines which constitute that sense. If we examine the volume of sermons entitled The Promise of Peace, with this criterion in mind, we shall find it sadly deficient. The sermons cannot be called interior expositions of the Word, for that is what they are not. They are mostly moral talks, based on some Scripture passage,-talks in which sentiment and not doctrine is the leading note. The text serves, as a rule, merely to give the subject, but not to inspire the theme.

     We search in vain to find in these sermons any clear and distinctive spiritual teaching such as will guide men in the spiritual temptations of life. We meet everywhere with the teaching: it is good to be good, to love the Father; we must forsake evil and love good. These things are true enough; they are acknowledged by all Christians, each one, however, having his own idea of what good and evil are, or of what constitute doing the one and forsaking the other. But they are not in themselves spiritual or New Church truths until they are accompanied with a spiritual idea of what is good and what [is] evil. But we have seen nothing in Mr. Worcester's book that points out either the one or the other. The question comes almost unbidden to the lips, is this all that can be taught to the members of the New Church? Can no better food be drawn from that rich storehouse of angelic wisdom,-the Writings?

     The sphere of natural good predominates in the book. It appeals to the natural thought and affection, but it discloses nothing as to man's interiors and it fails to awaken his spiritual thought and affection.

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It is not, therefore, surprising that the natural meaning of the Holy Word is most dwelt on, and that there is little if any endeavor to penetrate to its spiritual sense. And even where the spiritual sense is touched on, it is in language so unaccustomed to the reader of the Writings, and in a manner so veiled with natural ideas, that it seems more like a happy conceit of the preacher than the voice of Divine Revelation.

     Take the explanation of the darkening of the sun and moon and the falling of the stars from heaven, at the end of the age. Of this, Mr. Worcester says: "By the darkening of the sun we understand the loss of the sense of the Lord's immediate presence. By the moon not giving her light is meant that even the memory of the Lord's life and teaching would be neglected and cease to guide His church; and by the falling of the stars from heaven is meant the loss of all knowledge of heaven and of what heavenly life is." By one who is already acquainted with the spiritual sense these words can possibly be understood so as to agree with the teachings of the Writings. But we have yet to learn that it is of the minister's office to disguise and obscure the truths of revelation. The evident object of the preacher has been to avoid the language of the Writings, to put their teachings in ordinary and commonly used words, and in his anxiety to do this he has also put those teachings in ordinary and natural ideas. That this is the case is shown by the continuation: "The sun and moon and starts take on new meaning, because they meant to much to Him, and were His means of teaching the Church about Himself." "If He uses the sun as an emblem of Himself, it is because its beautiful light and pleasant warmth...are an expression of His love and thought from men.... The moon ruling the night in her quiet beauty brings to mind in quiet states the memory of what the Lord has done, the assurance of His presence...and the promise of a fuller presence.... And the beautiful stars tell with a new power of the homes of men and angles innumerable, touched and already kindling with the glow of the Human Love of the Lord." What is there here of the teachings of the new Church, teachings which say that the Word is not written in similes, but in correspondences. What is there that any Old Church preacher might not, perchance, imagine and teach?

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     In another place Mr. Worcester gives the meaning of the bread, wine and bitter herbs of the Passover as "such innocent love for Him and such power to do good, such truth of Christian life and such sense of bitter repentance as were possible." These words might mean almost anything, for they would be applauded by every sect of Christendom; but they mean nothing to the New Church man who seeks spiritual truth, for no inkling is given that they are intended to convey any other ideas than those which they usually stand for in the Christian world.

     And so it is throughout the book. If a spiritual truth is taught, it is presented in so emasculated and sentimental a garb as to be deprived of its spirituality and life.

     The sermon on Marriage is a fair specimen. Conjugial Love is the essential of marriage, and concerning it we have an abundance of teaching revealing arcana never hitherto known. But this sermon on Marriage says not a word about Conjugial Love, still less about the arcana revealed concerning it. It, indeed, states that the original of marriage is the union of Love and Wisdom in the Lord, and it gives in very general terms the distinction between man and woman; yet its burden is what might be held by every pious old Churchman, that men must be good and religious if they would have happy and true marriage. But what is being good? And what is religion? The highest ideal Mr. Worcester can place before the young man seeking marriage is "union in the (heavenly) ends which he believes to be best and which constitute the ideals upon which his heart is set." Rather an indefinite statement for the guidance of a young man seeking genuine marriage in the New Church.

     More than half the volume is occupied with sermons on the life of the Lord, and it is in these especially that the quality of Mr. Worcester's teaching is seen. It is the Human of the Lord that is kept constantly before the eyes, rather than the Divine in the Human. The gaze is fixed on the Lord's human thoughts, His "experiences," His "cheerfulness," His "manliness," His desires and aspirations and so forth, upon all of which the Unitarian loves to expatiate. And so much stress is laid on these things, and so little on the truth that He was god Himself, that when we lay down the book it is with the vague feeling that we have been reading about a good and holy man rather than about the Almighty God.

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     Such is the natural effect of Mr. Worcester's treatment of his subject, of his dwelling on its natural aspect and touching ever so lightly on its spiritual and Divine side. Compare the teachings of the Writings respecting the Lord's Temptations and Glorification, with Mr. Worcester's presentation, and the difference between them will be at once apparent. The Writings teach of the Lord's sufferings and temptations only to show the Omnipotence of the Divine which wholly subjugated the infirm human; and they lead the reader to think, as the angels think, not of the Lord's sufferings, but of His Glorification, not of the thoughts of the infirm human, but o the ends of the Divine; they elevate the mind from the merely human to the Divine in the Human. But Mr. Worcester treats of the Lord's temptations to show the feelings of the Human, its sympathy, its patience and resignation, its desires, its hopes and its comforts; he keeps the mind fixed upon a suffering albeit meek and gentle Lord. Such an idea, I repeat, suggests the idea of the best of men, rather than the Divine and Only Man.

     It is true that Mr. Worcester speaks of the infirm human, and of the Divine within. But the mere occurrence of a statement here and there without any particular dwelling upon it, does not take away from the general impression left by the presentation of the whole subject. The Lord is presented as a good, pure, meek and patient Man, and the attention is directed to a human and natural goodness which has something in common with man's goodness, and not to that Infinite Love which rejected everything of man. How else can we understand such passages as these: "In the quiet home in Bethany...to which He loved to withdraw from the conflict of the temple courts...." "What was (the Human) for but of itself to respond to the love of God, of itself to do its whole saving work for men, manfully and cheerfully? The spirit was willing; and though the flesh was weak, with a Divine manliness He bore all that was put upon Him." "What He had to do was not to leave (the human) to die uselessly while He betook Himself to the inner self, but to set the outer self in order that it might in cheerful orderly fashion do the work of the Divine Love for men." In the two words "manliness" and "cheerfully" we have the key to the treatment of the whole subject. It is the human virtues of manliness and cheerfulness that are apotheosisded.

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Surely, this language cannot be used if there is a true perception of the Divinity of the Lord and of the process of His glorification! It suggests rather the thought of the Unitarian than that of the New Church man. The Writings contain no such ideas and no such language.

     But these ideas run all through Mr. Worcester's book, as the following extracts, taken from various sermons, will show: "He had first to learn the truth of human life and reform His human thought and life according to it." "He had to suffer many things...that He might love men with a mighty saving love, unspoiled, undimmed by any shadow of self." "And the noblest meaning (of the lessons of the last journey) He was taking home to himself to prepare Himself...." "He did not resent the brief bereavement. He learned the lesson of it, and nerving Himself for the effort He cried once more, Father into thine hands I commit my spirit...." "We have seen Him struggling with the weak, shrinking flesh, as the horror of the great persecution came upon Him; and then nerving Himself to meet it...trusting in the end to become one with the Father." Elsewhere He is spoken of as "the lad" impressed "with a boundless zeal to know all about the world," and as having attained "eminence of character and wisdom surpassing angels and men."

     During the past two years works by the author of The Promise of Peace have been put before the church with special zeal; so far as we have seen, they all contain more or less of the same harmful teaching which we have pointed out in the work under review. If such teaching should gain standing and acceptance in the New Church the very life of the Church would be endangered; for such ideas threaten to prevent or obscure all genuine perception of the Divine Human, and of the spiritual things of the New Church. That Church lives from genuine spiritual truths, and not from natural-moral truths; from the worship of the Lord in His Divine Human, and not from the contemplation of Him as a suffering Lord.

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RICHARD DE CHARMS 1902

RICHARD DE CHARMS       C. TH. ODHNER       1902

     II. His Life in Cincinnati.

     A new chapter now opens in the eventful life of Richard de Charms, for with his call to Cincinnati he entered fully into the active performance of his use as a priest of the Lord's New Church. And with this call, also, he entered upon the career of spiritual struggles which it was his lot to endure until the end of his days.

     In the Divine Providence, he was led to open his ministry in a most distinctly democratic and anti-clerical sphere. The thriving young city of Cincinnati was at that time the most western outpost of American civilization, and, as in most pioneer communities, there prevailed here an intensely democratic spirit. Free and unrestrained upon the boundless prairies, the sturdy westerner viewed with great suspicion any appearance of compulsion or authority, whether in State or Church. Accustomed to do for himself in all things, he naturally inclined to be a law unto himself, but this self-will and self-confidence were largely the inevitable characteristics of exuberant youth and self-conscious but untried strength, and the democratic spirit of the New Church in the West proved of far less injury to the zeal welfare of the Church than the influences of Quakerism and Puritanism in the New Church societies of the East.

     The society in Cincinnati to which Mr. de Charms was called to minister in the fall of the year 1832 was at this time in a state of great external activity and prosperity, and the prospects of successful work seemed exceedingly fair to the talented and zealous young minister.

     The history of the New Church in Cincinnati dates back to the year 1806, when Mr. Adam Hurdus, of Manchester, came floating down the broad Ohio on a raft, with family and goods on board. Most precious of these "goods" were the Writings of the New Jerusalem.

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     Mr. Hurdus, the founder of the New Church in the West, was a man of large and varied experience. Early in life he had been a soldier, had fought against the American revolutionists in the Long Island campaign, had been taken captive by the French in the West Indies, and suffered a long imprisonment in France. When finally released, he took up his residence in Manchester, where he gradually accumulated great wealth as a manufacturer of cloth. While here, he received the Doctrines of the New Church through the Rev. John Clowes, and was one of those who, in 1790, organized a distinct New Church Society in Manchester. Having lost the greater part of his fortune in 1804, he emigrated to the United States, and arrived in the growing town of Cincinnati in 1806. Soon after he hall settled here, he opened New Church worship in his house, and with his own hands built the first organ that was heard in that city. Neighbors and friends were invited to the services, and it is said that among the visitors there were many Indians who strolled in to enjoy the strange music of the white man. Gradually a circle of receivers gathered about Mr. Hurdus, and a. regular society, with some eighteen members, was organized in the year 1811. A rapid increase now followed, the necessity of a regular ministry became evident, and Mr. Hurdus, therefore, in July, 1816, made a journey to Baltimore, where he was baptized and ordained by the Rev. John Hargrove. Mr. Hurdus now became; the regular pastor of the Cincinnati society.

     Personally, Mr. Hurdus appears to have been a most kindly, zealous and self-sacrificing servant of the Lord, of a peace-loving, conciliatory and humble disposition. Being engaged in mercantile uses as his means of subsistence, and having received no special training for the priestly office, he "as in the habit of asking various laymen of the congregation to assist him in filling the pulpit, and the Society thus became accustomed to lay-preaching. Here, as elsewhere, this led to disastrous results. On the one hand, the members were not led to the interior things of the Church, and the other hand disorderly notions became prevalent amongst them. For some years they held aloof from the newly organized General Convention, and, in 1824, sent a communication to that body, denying in toto the use of ordination or of any distinctive priesthood in the New Church.

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Through the admirable reply to this communication, by the Rev. Holland Weeks, on behalf of the General Convention, the majority in the Cincinnati Society subsequently gained a more rational view of order in the Church, but the more "radical" of the members, in 1829, organized themselves into a "Second Society," with Mr. Alexander Kinmont as "teacher." Dr. E. A. Atlee, of Philadelphia, at this time was elected pastor of the "First Society" (Mr. Hurdus having become incapacitated by old age), but there was much confusion, and the pulpit continued to be occupied, alternately, by the pastor, and by various unauthorized laymen. But when Mr. Atlee, in 1832, Designed from the pasterate and "for the sake of peace of mind" returned to his former associates, the Quakers, Mr. de Charms accepted the call to Cincinnati only on the condition that he should be the sole preacher of the Society as long as he remained its pastor.

     Mr. de Charms arrived in Cincinnati at a critical period of the New Church in the West. Through the efforts of early missionaries such as Jonathan Chapman ("Johnny Appleseed"), Thomas Newport, David Powell, Sr., and others, the seeds of the Heavenly Doctrines had been scattered quite widely throughout Ohio and Indiana, and small societies had sprung up at Lebanon, Steubenville, Rutland, Rockport, Mansfield, Urbana, and other places, all looking to Cincinnati as the common center. The need of general co-operation and organization now began to be strongly felt in the West, the more so as the connection of the Western Church with the General Convention each year was becoming less and less satisfactory The latter body, originally a Convention or general annual meeting of individual members of the Church, had now become a Convention of representative delegates, and these delegates had undertaken to prescribe laws of order and conduct for the Church at large. In these proceedings, however, the Church in the West could have hardly any voice, owing to the difficulties in sending delegates to the then very distant East. But the real reason for the dissatisfaction was the influence of the homogeneous Church in New England which at this time had become all-powerful in the Convention and quietly but steadily was endeavoring to force upon the Church certain principles of doctrine and forms of government which were extremely distasteful to New Church men of liberal thought.

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     Such were the causes that led to the organization of the "Western Convention," which held its first annual meeting at Cincinnati, on October 12th, 1832,--a few months after Mr. de Charms had taken up his abode in that city. At this meeting the Western Convention declared itself "subject to General Convention of the whole Church in the United States" (notice the indefinite article), but left undecided its relation to the General Convention as then existing. A report was adopted, looking to the distinctive New Church education of "the rising generation," and means were considered for "the most orderly method of disseminating the Doctrines of the New Jerusalem. Mr. de Charms does not appear to have taken any part in the proceedings of this meeting beyond delivering a sermon on "The True Nature of a Religious Profession." This, by request of the meeting, was published as a pamphlet and was the second of Mr. de Charms's numerous publications.

     Being now settled in his use, Mr. de Charms, in April, 1833, was able to crown his life by wedding the lady to whom he had been long engaged, Miss Mary Graham, a devoted member of the Church, endowed with unusual beauty, grace and intellectual accomplishments. From this marriage eight children were born: Elisabeth, who died in infancy; Sarah, who as Mrs. John Randolph Hibbard is well known to the present generation of New Church men; Mary, now Mrs. Barclay, of Philadelphia; George, who met his death on the battlefield while defending his country during the Civil War; William, who died at Cincinnati, 1901; Richard, who for many years has been serving the Church as pastor of a New Church society in Denver, Colorado; Eadith, concerning whose history we have no information, and Virginia, who still resides in Cincinnati. (Mr. de Charms, who was essentially a poet, used to describe his seven surviving children,--three boys and four girls,--as "a cluster of three diamonds in a setting of burnished gold.")                    

     Soon after his marriage, Mr. de Charms, as a delegate from the Western Convention, attended the session of the General Convention held at Boston in June, 1833. At the request of the Cincinnati society, this meeting authorized the ordination of Mr. de Charms, and he was accordingly ordained by Mr. Hurdus, at Cincinnati, July 28th, 1833. At the second annual meeting of the Western Convention, Mr. de Charms was elected permanent corresponding secretary, and in this capacity he entered into communication with the leading minds of the New Church in Europe, particularly with Dr. Immanuel Tafel, of Tübingen, in whose important work he took a very active interest.

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He was an indefatigable correspondent, and his keen sense of historical valuation led him not only to preserve the letters which he received, but also to collect from every available source all documents bearing upon the history,--especially the internal history,--of the New Church. These he afterwards published for the use of posterity, and thereby performed an invaluable service to all coming generations.

     The Cincinnati society continued to prosper under the earnest ministrations of its zealous pastor, and the congregation soon increased to such an extent that it became necessary to erect a new and larger house of worship. This building was completed and dedicated in September, 1834, and all now looked forward to an era of great progress. But this expectation was not to be fulfilled, for with external prosperity there came in, also, selfish and worldly affections. Some began to find fault with the teachings of the pastor which were considered "too doctrinal," "too internal," "not sufficiently adapted to the outer world," etc. They looked back, longingly, to the "polypersonal pastorate" of former days, and a number of the members went over to the "Second Society," here they could enjoy the popular eloquence of Mr. Kinmont.

     Nevertheless, the great intellectual and literary abilities of Mr. de Charms were generally recognized, and he was unanimously appointed editor of the monthly magazine, which, as the organ of the Western Convention, first appeared at Cincinnati in September, 1836, under the title of "The Precursor."

     It was in this journal that Mr. de Charms first began to show the real caliber of his mind. From the first number he made it a thing in New Church literature, imparting to it not only a vigor of style and thought, a fervency of spirit, and a practical aspect of faith such as had not before been equaled in any periodical work of the Church, but also a depth of-systematic theological learning, of fearless discrimination and integrity of doctrine which at once placed him as a leader of thought in front of all his contemporaries in the Church. His editorial utterances in The Precursor are, indeed, as fresh and full of living interest at the present day as they were sixty years ago, for they are replete with the genuine internal truth of the New Revelation which never grows old or stale.

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     Mr. de Charms, in his magazine, arose as a teacher having a new mission and message, a message directed not to the Old, but to the New Church. He stood forth alone in a wilderness, preaching repentance to the men of the New Church, preparing the way for a living and practical acknowledgment of the Lord in His Second Coming. The burden of his message was the proclamation of the Divine Authority of those inspired Writings in which, as the Divine Truth of the unveiled Word, the Second Coming has been effected. A few other teachers before him had, indeed, recognized the Divine Authority of the Writings, but to Mr. de Charms it was given to present this doctrine systematically and persistently, and to inaugurate a spiritual movement and propaganda which, we believe, will continue for untold ages. "Is Swedenborg what he says he is? And what are the proper signs of his being so?" This is the title of the first article in The Precursor in which Mr. de Charms unfolded his theological program, and through this and many subsequent articles on the same subject he opened a window of spiritual intelligence in the ark of the Church through which a flood of light streamed in from Heaven, shedding a new and unexpected illumination upon all the things of faith and life among the men of the New Church. The contrast of this light over against the prevailing conceptions in the Church, and especially its exposure of self-intelligence and worldliness, inevitably aroused strong opposition and bitter hostility, and a conflict now began in the New Church which lasted throughout and beyond the life of Mr. de Charms, even to the present day.

     It is unnecessary to enter, here, upon a detailed analysis of Mr. de Charms's teachings in The Precursor, inasmuch as they were afterwards restated in greater fullness and clearness in his subsequent works. But to those who may desire to trace the principles of the Academy to their beginnings, we would recommend the perusal of the articles on the Authority of the Doctrines (Precursor, Vol. I., pp. 59, 348), on the Priesthood of the New Church (pp. 45, 121), on the necessity of order in the external things of the Church (pp. 316, 332, 343, 361, 378, 390), on the State of the Christian World and the Distinctiveness of the New Church (p.193), on the need of distinctive New Church Education (pp. 177, 189, 201, 253), and on the importance of the Hebrew language for the New Church (p. 113).

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     The Western Convention, in May, 1837, passed a resolution requesting the General Convention to authorize the introduction of Mr. de Charms into the third degree of the Ministry, and, the request being granted, he was accordingly consecrated as an ordaining minister by Rev. Adam Hurdus, on May 13th, 1838. Unlike most of the other ordaining ministers of the Church, Mr. de Charms exercised his ordaining functions with great caution and on but few occasions. The first person to be ordained by him was the Rev. William H. Benade, through whom the ministers of the General Church of the New Jerusalem have derived their ordinations.

     The relations of Mr. de Charms with the Cincinnati First Society had become so strained that he resigned his pastoral connection on July 3d, 1837. His reason was that the Society had repeatedly broken its pledge to allow him the sole occupancy of the pulpit. The Society, however, in its annual report to the Western Convention, describes the resignation as being "sudden and unexpected to many, causing fear, anxieties and doubts as to the truth of a principle which could actuate the measure." The "principle" here alluded to was the "conjugial principle," i. e., the notion of a supposed "conjugial relation" between a pastor and his flock. This dangerous heresy, which will be explained in full further on, had at this time been accepted by nearly all the societies of the New Church in the East, and Mr. de Charms's opposition to lay-preaching and polypersonal pastorates was taken as an indication that he himself was a "conjugialist. Thus, when Mr. de Charms complained because laymen had been invited to occupy his pulpit during his brief visit to the General Convention, it was spread abroad that he had lamented that "adultery had been committed with his wife during his absence." (See Report on the Trine, Appendix p. xl.) The slander, Mr. de Charms informs us, was entirely unfounded, but it served, no doubt, to attract his attention to the heresy itself. He appears henceforth as the unrelenting opponent of the "principle," and fought it tooth and nail until it no longer dared to raise its head within the New Church.

     After remaining for a year without any pastoral charge, Mr. de Charms on June 2qth, 1838, organized the "Third New Jerusalem Society of Cincinnati," a small circle of devoted adherents to the distinctive principles of which Mr. de Charms was the exponent.

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But little is known of this "Third Society," but we were told by one of its former members, the late Mrs. N. C. Burnham, that it were especially interested in the use of New Church Education. Mr. de Charms himself had testified to his belief in this use, by depositing in the Cincinnati Savings Bank the sum of $60.00, "to be there retained, accumulating interest, until an Academy or school shall have been established in Cincinnati for the education of children avowedly and distinctly on the principles of the New Jerusalem Church." (The Precursor, Vol. I., p. 135) This fund was left in trust to the Western Convention and was retained for more than half a century by its successor, the Ohio Association. By accumulation of interest upon interest the original amount grew to the sum of six or seven thousand dollars, but we learn that the fund, quite lately, has been diverted from the definitely expressed purposes of the donor.

     The slender resources of the "Third Society" being unequal to the support of a pastor with a family, Mr. de Charms, in September, 1839, found it necessary to resign from the pastorate, in order to accept the urgent call of the Philadelphia First Society, where he had begun his career in the New Church and where a more extended field of usefulness,--and of combat and suffering,--presented itself.

     His work in Cincinnati, though apparently a failure, was destined to bear important and far-reaching results. Personally, he had gained much experience in preparation for further work and had developed a platform of theological and ecclesiastical principles which each year became more clear and strong. And he had imparted his principles and his spirit not only to an earnest though small group of laymen, but also to a circle of young ministers in the Church, the Rev. Messrs. David Powell, Jr., John Randolph Hibbard, J. P. Stuart, and N. C. Burnham (his successor in the pastorate of the Third Society). All of these men, throughout their long ministry, kept alive "the sacred fire," the new flame of love and the new 1ight of truth which had been kindled by the Lord in the New Church through the instrumentality of Mr. de Charms, and three of them, many years later, united with the Rev. W. H. Benade and others in instituting the Academy of the New Church.
               (To be continued.)

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MEMORABLE RELATIONS ADAPTED 1902

MEMORABLE RELATIONS ADAPTED              1902

     VI. THE DAWN OF A NEW AGE.

     WHEN the angel had finished speaking, the two friends paused for a moment on their homeward way and directed their gaze to the west whither the dwellers of the city had so lately fled in terror. From the place where they stood the ground sloped downwards to the west, and, there, before them, lay a wide stretch of country entirely wrapped in smoke and flame. Far into the north and down to the south did the fire rage, and it seemed as if the whole of that distant region were being consumed with a fire which could never be quenched. As the travelers continued to gaze on this scene they saw that here and there in the burning ground were large tracts in which the flames glowed more fiercely, and from which there went up great heavy columns of dark green smoke. Surely, these were the lakes of fire and brimstone of which the angel had spoken! They were like lakes of living fire set in the midst of a burning land,--lakes in which fiery waves rose and fell, while from the restless surface tongues of flame darted in a mad endeavor to pierce the thick clouds of smoke which covered the whole country with darkness.

     From the eminence on which the travelers stood the burning land and the fiery lakes might have presented a grand though fearful sight; but the heavy clouds of smoke everywhere deprived the flames of brightness and gave to them a lurid appearance; while the fire, in its turn, lighting up the smoke, set forth more plainly its ghastly green and yellow colors.

     It seemed hardly possible that life could be sustained in such a burning and poisonous region. But Swedenborg knew that he was looking upon some of the hells; he knew that thither the wicked men of the city had gone but a short time before, to seek their abodes among men as wicked as themselves.

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Therefore, turning to the angel, he asked, "Why do these hells appear like this?" And then his companion made clear the meaning of the scene which lay before their eyes. He explained that water corresponds to truth, and, thus wherever there are societies of good men who love the truth, there appear beautiful lakes of pure water. "Those hells also appear like lakes," he said, "not beautiful lakes of refreshing water, but lakes of fire; for the men there are not in the love of truth, but in the love of turning truths into falsities, of twisting them that they may use them to excuse and favor their evil loves. These evil loves which consume and destroy them are the fires in and around the lakes, while the love of falsities is the brimstone burning in the lake, from the smoke of which the whole land is darkened. All in those lakes," he concluded, pointing to the burning lakes, "are shut up in eternal workhouses where they must labor for their food, their clothing and their bed, for nothing is given them until they have done the tasks to which they are set. But when they do evil, they are punished grievously and miserably."

     The two then resumed their journey. And on their way they talked together of the things they had just seen, and of the wicked men who had sought their homes in the Gulfs of the West. And Swedenborg, recalling the words with which the angel, when they were leaving the city, had described these men, said to him:

     "You called all the men in these Gulfs of the West spiritual and natural adulterers; why did you not say that they were evil-doers and wicked men!"

     "Because," was the answer, "all who think that adulteries are not sins, and hence think nothing of committing them, are, in their hearts, evil-doers and wicked men. For the Human Conjugial is only with Christian men, and it goes hand in hand with religion."

     "What mean you by the Human Conjugial?" asked Swedenborg.

     "The Human Conjugial," said the angel, "is the desire of living with one wife only. A Christian man has this desire according to his religion; and every thing he does from true religion and for it, he does from this desire and for its sake."

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     They then walked on in silence, for Swedenborg grieved in spirit that marriages which were so holy in the Golden and Silver ages had now become so ruined and changed into adulteries.

     "It is the same with religion," said the angel, perceiving his companion's thoughts. "Religion has also been ruined and destroyed, for the Lord says, in the end of the age will be the abomination of desolation foretold by Daniel, and a great affliction such as was not since the beginning of the world. The Abomination of desolation means the destruction of all truths by falsities, and the Affliction means the state of the Church when it is filled with evils and falsities. This is the End of the age, for when the Church comes to this state it comes to its end."

     And then he told Swedenborg that this end had already come upon the Christian Church. "The end is now," he said, "for there is not a single truth left which has not been made false and destroyed by the evil loves of men, and this is the reason why marriages are ruined, for the turning of truths into falsities is spiritual whoredom which leads men to commit whoredoms on earth, for the two make one."

     Thus they walked on, talking together of these things and sorrowing in their hearts at the wickedness with which men had filled the earth and destroyed the Church. Yet they had comfort and hope in the thought that the Lord had come a second time, for they knew that He would raise up a New Church.

     Swedenborg was still thinking deeply of the Lord's Second Advent, when suddenly a beautiful beam of light shone before his eyes. The two companions looked quickly up, and lo! the heaven above them, from east to west, was filled with a light such as human eye has never seen; for it not only delighted the eyes of the travelers with its beauty, but it seemed also to enter into the interiors of their minds and to fill them with the sweetest happiness. And even as they gazed, the heavens were opened and they heard the voices of the angels lifted up in songs of praise.

     Deeply moved by the sweetness of the heavenly music, Swedenborg looked inquiringly at his angel guide; and he, in answer to the silent question, said:

     "What you hear is a Glorification of the Lord, sung by the angels of the eastern and western heavens, because of His Advent."

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     The two stood with uplifted eyes and opened ears; they seemed as if lifted up into heaven itself, for the sounds of that Glorification filled their minds with the joy and peace in which the angels are when they praise and celebrate the Lord.

     From the cast to the west the heavens blazed with light, and from the east to the west the angelic voices were heard in wonderful harmonies. For it was not a single chorus. Each one of the many angelic societies was praising the Lord with its own chorus and its own melody, but all these were blended together in the most perfect harmony, so as to make that one Glorification in which the love and praise of all the angels was expressed.

     The southern and northern heavens were as yet unopened, for the sparkling light did not spread thither; yet even from these heavens the gladsome murmur of angels was heard furnishing a soft and sweet accompaniment to the Glorification.

     As they stood entranced with the heavenly sounds, the guide, who was himself a dweller in heaven, told his companion that when the angels thus glorify and celebrate the Lord they do it from the Word, for the Lord Himself is the Word. And then he explained to him the meaning of the Glorification which they were hearing, as it went on and increased in beauty and grandeur.

     "Now they are praising and glorifying the Lord by the words in Daniel: Thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, but they shall not cleave one to another. But in those days the God of heaven shall make a kingdom to rise which shall never be destroyed. It shall break in Pieces and consume all these kingdoms, but it shall stand for ages. "

     And then in the midst of the chorus they heard a sweet melody which moved their deepest affections. And looking to the east whence came this voice, Swedenborg beheld the eastern heaven still further opened; and from thence there shone forth a flaming light more bright and sparkling than all they had seen before. And the angel, also seeing the new light and hearing the song, said:

     "There they are glorifying the Lord by these words in Daniel: I saw in the visions of the night, and, behold, with the clouds of heaven came One like the Son of Man. And to Him was given dominion and a kingdom, and all people and nations shall worship Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away, and His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.

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     "Now," he continued, as the voice of the singing grew in volume and sweetness, "they are celebrating the Lord by these words in the Apocalypse: To Jesus Christ be glory and strength. Behold He cometh with clouds. He is Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last, who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty."

     Then the eyes of the delighted hearers again sought that wonderful light in the eastern heaven, and, lo! it was now shining into the south and opening the southern heavens with its sparkling rays. And from the east and south together, came a delightful sound in which the melody from the east was still heard, but blended with new songs and accompanied by richer harmonies.

     "Now they are praising the Lord for the New Church," cried the angel, "and celebrating Him by these words: I saw a new heaven and a new earth, and I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven prepared as a bride adorned for her Husband. And the angel spake with me and said: Come, I will show thee the bride, the Lamb's wife. And he carried me away in the spirit to a mountain great and high and showed me the holy city, New Jerusalem."

     And as the light spread, and the southern heavens became brighter and brighter the chorus was heard glorifying the Lord by the words: I Jesus am the bright and morning star, and the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And He said, Yea, I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.

     Farther and farther spread the light from the east, and now the whole of the south was brilliant and shining and the heavens there were opened. And as the brightness spread, so swelled the chorus. Society after society from the southern heavens joined in and with new voices and new affections took up the heavenly song of praise. Then the light from the south shone into the north, and soon all the heavens, from east to west and from south to north were one blaze of heavenly light. And from every quarter were heard the voices of vast companies of angels joining in a crowning Glorification such as earthly ear has never heard. As before, they sang to the Lord in the language of the Word, and passage after passage did the heavenly guide recite to his companion as the mighty chorus rolled on.

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     At last came the end, as with a final burst of celestial song the whole of the heavens glorified the Lord by the words of Zachariah: In that day the Lord shall be King over the whole earth. In that day there shall be one Lord and His name one.

     When the sounds had ceased and the heavenly light disappeared, the two friends stood for some time in silence, their hearts filled with peace. For by the angelic songs, they had received inspiration from heaven and from the Lord Himself, and the hope and belief was strengthened within them, that though the Church had been destroyed and marriage ruined, yet the mercy of the Lord was everlasting; that He is present in His New Church and will restore marriage in all its ancient holiness. And so, in exultation and joy, they resumed their journey.

     When they reached his home, Swedenborg, with a grateful heart bade farewell to the angel. He had been sent by the Lord, in answer to Swedenborg's prayer, that he might lead Swedenborg to the men of different ages, to learn from their own lips about their marriages. We had been with him on many journeys and in many different scenes,--a wise and faithful guide, companion and friend. But now the last journey had been brought to an end and his office was finished. So when he had returned Swedenborg's greeting, he departed and went to his heavenly home.

     When the angel hall left him, Swedenborg came back to this world; and, his heart still gladdened from the songs of the angels, and rejoicing at the promise of a New Church and a New Age in which the Lord should be King over the whole earth, he wrote down for the use of that Church and Age, an account of the many wonderful things he had seen and heard. And to this account he added these memorable words:

     "Conjugial Love will be raised up by the Lord after His Advent, such as it was with the ancients; for that love is from the Lord alone, and is with those who are made spiritual by Him through the Word."

     After he had finished writing, Swedenborg again entered the spiritual world. And, looking to the north, he saw a man running hastily towards him, seemingly with no very friendly purpose; for, as he came nearer, his face was seen to be inflamed with anger. When he had come up to Swedenborg he stared at him in a threatening and overbearing manner.

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Then, without the slightest greeting, he rudely burst forth:

     "Are you the man who wants to lead the world astray by establishing a New Church which you understand is meant by the New Jerusalem descending from God out of heaven? and by teaching that the Lord will give Love truly Conjugial, whose delights you exalt up to heaven, to all who embrace the doctrines of that Church? Is not all this an invention? and have you not put it forth as a catch and snare to entice people to agree to your new fangled notions?"

     It was plain to see that the man was not seeking information, by these questions, but rather trying to justify himself for his quite unnecessary anger. He seemed to be working himself into a passion as he thus abused the man whom he had so rudely accosted. But Swedenborg remained cool and calm; and his quiet bearing and evident fearlessness seemed to have the effect of somewhat calming the excitement of his visitor, for the man went on a little more sensibly, "Tell me, in a few words, what the doctrines of the New Church are, and I will see whether they are true or not."

     Then Swedenborg answered, "The doctrines of the New Church, which is understood by the New Jerusalem, are these: First, That there is one God in whom is the Divine Trinity, and that the Lord Jesus Christ is He. Second, That saving faith is to believe in Him. Third, That evils must be shunned because they are of the devil and from the devil. Fourth, That goods must be done because they are of God and from God. And, fifth, That these must be done by man as of himself, but that he must believe that they are done by the Lord with him and through him."

     On hearing these words the man's fury passed quite away for a few moments, and he stood quietly thinking. But after a little while he looked up sharply, and in a stern voice he asked: "Are these five precepts the doctrines of the faith and charity of the New Church?"

     "They are," answered Swedenborg.

     "How can you prove the first!" asked the man, harshly.

     Then Swedenborg showed that there can be only one God and that the Trinity is therefore in One God; and he proved from the Word that the one God is the Lord Jesus Christ, "for," he said, "the Lord was conceived of God, as is read in the first chapter of Luke, and therefore His soul is God.

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And He Himself teaches that He and the Father are one; that he who seeth and knoweth Him, seeth and knoweth the Father; that no one cometh to the Father but by Him, and that He has all power in heaven and on earth. And, therefore, it is plain, that the Lord is the only God of heaven and earth."

     Without making any comment on this, the man at once asked;

     "How do you prove the second precept, that saving faith is to believe in Him?"

     "This I will prove," answered Swedenborg, "by these words of the Lord? 'This is the will of the Father that everyone who believeth in the Son should have eternal life.' 'God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that everyone who believeth in Him may not perish, but have eternal life. 'Whosoever believeth in the Son hath eternal life, but he who believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remaineth upon him.'"

     Then the man demanded, "Prove also the third and the others."

     But Swedenborg answered: "What need is there to prove that evils must be shunned and that goods must be done? or that they must be done by man as if of himself, but with the belief that they are done by the Lord with him and through him? The whole Sacred Scripture from beginning to end proves these three to be true. What is more insisted on, in the Sacred Scripture, than the shunning of evils, the doing of goods, and belief in the Lord God? And besides, without these there is no religion, for religion is a matter of life. So if you take these three precepts away from the church, you also take away the Sacred Scripture and religion, and then the church is no longer a church."

     When he heard this, the man was silent, and soon he departed, weighing in his mind what Swedenborg had said. Yet it was plain that he was still indignant.

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JOURNAL of the SECOND ONTARIO ASSEMBLY OF THE GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM 1902

JOURNAL of the SECOND ONTARIO ASSEMBLY OF THE GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM       F. E. WAELCHLI       1902

HELD AT TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA.

FIRST DAY-TUESDAY, DECEMBER 31ST, 1901.

     1. The Second Ontario Assembly of the General Church of the New Jerusalem was held at Toronto, in the hall of worship of the Parkdale Society, on Tuesday, December 31st, 1901, and Wednesday, January 1st, 1902.

     2. The following members and visitors were present at the Assembly:

MEMBERS OF THE GENERAL CHURCH.

     Berlin: Rev. and Mrs. F. E. Waelchli, Rev. E. J. Stebbing, Mrs. Theodore Bellinger, Adam D. Doering. Miss Emma Kuhl, T. S. Kuhl, Miss Annie E. Moir, Mr. and Mrs. Richard Roschman, Mr. and Mrs. Rudolf Roschman, Miss Minnie Rothaermel, Mr. and Mrs. Emil Schierholtz, George Schnarr, John Schnarr, Herbert Steen, Miss Lily Steen, Miss Ella Stroh, Emanuel Stroh, Mr. and Mrs. Jacob G. Stroh.

     Milverton: Miss Jemima Burton.

     Toronto: Rev. and Mrs. E. S. Hyatt, Mrs. Emily Anderson, Dr. H. Becker, Mr. and Mrs. Ernst Bellinger, Mr. and Mrs. Peter Bellinger, Rev. J. E. Bowers, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Brown, Mr. R. B. Caldwell, Mr. and Mrs. R. Carswell, Mr. and Mrs. R. Hickman, Mr. and Mrs. R. W. Hynds, Miss J. McColl, Mrs. M. McColl, Mr. and Mrs. C. G. Nahrgang, Mr. and Mrs. F. S. Raymond. E. F. Robinson, Mrs. J. Robinson, Miss Emma Roschman, Mr. and Mrs. J. E. Rothaermel, Miss Susie Rothaermel, Mr. and Mrs. A. K. Roy, Miss Agnes Stamps, Henry Stamps, Mrs. Louisa

     Wellesley: George Bellinger.

     Bryn Athyn, Pa.: Rt. Rev. W. F. Pendleton, Rev. Alfred Acton, Miss Doering.

     Pittsburg, Pa.: Rev. Reginald W. Brown.

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VISITORS AND YOUNG PEOPLE

Berlin: Joseph Hill, Nelson Glebe, Miss Laura Schnarr, Lambert Steen.

     Randolph: Mr. and Mrs. William Evens.

     Toronto: Miss Vera J. Anderson, Mrs. H. Becker, Charles Bellinger, Norman Bellinger, C. R. Brown, Miss F. E. Carswell, Miss Ethel Craig, William Gillespie, Mr. and Mrs. Longstaff, Frank Longstaff, Fred E. Longstaff, D. McColl, Miss M. McColl, Theodore Rothaermel, Mr. and Mrs. Somerville, Miss Blanche Somerville, Miss Ethel Somerville, Miss Mary Somerville.

Number of members present     64
Number of visitors          26
Total                     90

     3. The Assembly was opened, at 2:30 p. m., with religious services, conducted by Bishop Pendleton.

     4. The Bishop then gave an address, of which the following is the substance:

THE BISHOP'S ADDRESS

     Brethren and friends: I must congratulate you on this second annual meeting of the Ontario Assembly, which was so auspiciously begun in Berlin a year ago. The movement there begun has continued to grow; for during the year three other Assembly, have been organized, namely: The Philadelphia Assembly, held in Bryn Athyn in June; the Chicago District Assembly, held in Glenview in October, and the Pittsburg District Assembly, held in Pittsburg the week following. This augurs well for the General Church. It may look like division, and it would be if there were internal division, caused by dissensions and differences as to doctrine. If such were the case, we would have cause to lament; but it is not the case, and the movement tends rather to promote fuller and greater unity in our body, by giving greater variety. It gives greater freedom to the parts, and also saves expense. Nearly all can attend these local Assemblies, which is not the case at the General Assembly. It is therefore not necessary for the General Assembly to meet oftener than every three or four years. It has not yet been decided how often it shall be held.

     You will remember that last year at Berlin I spoke on the importance of obedience, and of its being essential to all organization; and also, that as it becomes more internal, it ceases to be mere obedience and becomes love. Let us dwell on this more internal idea, which is in the external, and which is love to the Lord and to the neighbor. John had a vision of the Lord in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks. He was bound with a golden girdle. This girdle is love, which is the universal bond of heaven and of the Church. In nature this is represented by the fire of the sun, which makes the common bond, holding nature together and giving it force.

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Spiritual love is two-fold: love to the Lord and love to the neighbor. Neither can exist without the other. Love to the neighbor separated from love to the Lord is natural good, and therefore is not really love to the neighbor. And love td the Lord, apart from love to the neighbor, does not really exist, but evidences itself in bigotry and fanaticism. These two loves are but an appearance unless conjoined. It is the conjunction of these loves which makes the bond holding heaven and the Church together. This is the bond which is to make the very life of the Church and of the organizations of the Church, otherwise they have no life before the Lord and before the angels. Dissensions and heresies arise without these loves, for without them man is in the natural. These loves elevate man, so that he can distinguish between the true and the false. When man is only in the natural, he sees only appearances, and hence heresies arise, and falsities are given as truths, so that there is complete obscurity about the Lord and also about the neighbor. He does not see the neighbor's love of use, but only certain appearances of weakness, and judges him thus according to the appearance. This is the cause of dissensions and of personal disagreements in the Church. Wherever there is dissension and heresy the Church is gradually destroyed. This is evident from the history of the First Christian Church. Almost at its beginning heresies and dissensions arose, and this was because they were not united in love to the Lord and love to the neighbor. Where these loves exist there is no dissension and no heresy, because there is charity. Charity is the conjunction of these loves, and where there is charity there will be just judgment. There may be differences of opinion, but not discussion; for there will be an internal bond holding the members of the Church together. But if the spirit of dissension arises, together with a spirit of heresy, coming from self-love and the love of the world, there will be dissociation: first, dissociation from the Lord and dissociation from good spirits, and then externally and naturally from one another. Then the Church with us will cease to be the Church of the Lord, and will be transferred to others more worthy. Organization is a natural thing, but there must be the presence of these things in it. Heaven and the Lord must be in it. We must labor for this: Love is acquired not by the profession of it, but by shunning what opposes. In organization it is essential to get rid of all that tends to look to the evils of others, and thus leads to dissensions. Let us pray the Lord for strength to co-operate with Him in removing the obstructions to successful and prosperous organization. Let us cultivate good-will. If the principle of good-will exist in our body, the movement in the organization of district Assemblies will contribute greatly to the unity of the Church.

     You may wish to hear of some of the uses which the General Church is performing. A new liturgy is in process of formation for the use of the Church, as we have outgrown the old. It will not be ready for two or three years; but some of the services which have been prepared for it will soon be printed, and copies will be sent to the various centres, so that they may be tried from time to time.

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     The new college building has been erected, and the schools are in operation in it. The dedication will take place as soon as the chapel is completed.

     I cannot let this opportunity pass without speaking a word in reference to the passing into the other world of Mr. Robert M. Glenn, who was president of the corporation of the Academy, and also filled other offices of great usefulness in the Church. It seems a wonderful Providence that he should be taken away in the prime of his life, when he was performing such great uses and was so much needed. But since he was taken we can know that it was good that he should go. The Lord will provide. An exceedingly useful man is gone, but his use will continue. In the other life a man's usefulness expands. We taught that the love of use continues and grows in the other world. When a valued member is taken away, we can hope and believe that his use to us will be larger and greater there than here.

     5. The Secretary then read the following report:

     REPORT OF THE SECRETARY

As Secretary of the Ontario Assembly of the General Church. I have to report the publication of the Journal of the First Ontario Assembly, held in Berlin, December 31st, 1900, and January 1st, 1901.

     During the year I have endeavored to promote the cause of the General Church among the isolated receivers in Ontario by visits and correspondence. Services were conducted at Milverton and in Huron County, twice at each place, and at Cross Hilt and Wellesley, once at each place. The New Church people in these localities desire the ministrations of the Church, which should therefore, if possible, be provided. I also visited Dufferin County once, but shall not likely go again, as one of the most earnest receivers there has removed to Berlin, and another has passed into the other life.

     At our last Assembly, the Bishop spoke of our looking forward to the establishment of a New Church High School in Ontario. As the time does not seem at hand for the undertaking of this work by the Assembly, the Carmel Church in Berlin has taken steps in that direction by establishing an Intermediate Department of its school, in which the same grade of work is done as in the Intermediate Department of the College of the Academy. Whenever the Assembly feels ready to enter upon this use, the Carmel Church will be pleased to consider the transfer of the same.

     The Carmel Church, on the 8th of January next, will also open a Three Months' School for the religious instruction of children and people from isolated families. There will this year be five pupils in school. The performance of this use should also pass into the hands of the Assembly, as soon as conditions warrant. Respectfully submitted, F. E. WAELCHLI.

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     6. The Secretary also read two letters: one from the Rev. John F. Potts, of Bryn Athyn, Pa., expressing the pleasure it afforded him to receive the resolution of congratulation passed by the last Ontario Assembly on the completion of the manuscript of the Swedenborg Concordance, the other from Mr. John McGregor, of Constance, Huron county, regretting that he could not be present at the Assembly and wishing it success.

     7. The Treasurer presented his report, which indicated a deficit of about seven dollars.

     THE HISTORICAL ADDRESS.

     8. Rev. F. E. Waelchli was now called on by the Bishop to read the Historical Address.*
     * This paper will be published in a future number of New Church Life.-Ed.

     The address called attention to the fact that ten years have passed since those who now constitute the Ontario Assembly separated from the Canada Association, and entered in freedom into that life of the New Church which we now enjoy. The decennial of that event ought not to pass without recognition. A review was then given of the history of the New Church in Canada from the beginning. The causes which led to the separation were set forth, and it was shown that the division which then took place was due not to external but to internal causes, the principal of which was that on the one side it was believed that the Writings are the Word of the Lord, while on the other this was denied. It was also shown that the Judgment which then took place was necessary, since without it we would not have come into freedom to form the life and order of the Church in accordance with the Doctrines.

     8a. Mr. Carswell expressed his appreciation of the address. It brought to his mind many things in connection with the conflict against the Academy which went on for some years. In the days when he was active in the Convention he thought highly of the loyalty of the Academicians to the doctrines, but he was prejudiced against anything that might divide the Church. When Mr. Hyatt first came to Parkdale, he had watched him closely, and found that he never taught anything but what was from the doctrines. We should be thankful to the Academy for its work in taking young men and teaching them the truth and awakening with them a love for the Church, so that they will not, for any consideration, turn away from speaking and teaching the Truth. It is the Lord's work, and will go on.

     8b. Mr. Caldwell said he was pleased that this subject had been brought up. From an old note book, which he frequently used at the time of the separation, he read several passages from the Writings, which clearly teach that what Swedenborg wrote was not from himself, but was the Word of the Lord.

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What we love and revere in the Academy is the true understanding of the Writings which it has given us. The experiences of the past were necessary in order that we might come out of the states when then prevailed and be able to progress. This Assembly is an outcome of that progress. The first Assembly, held last year, infused a spirit of love and hope; and throughout the pear we have looked forward with warm-hearted affection to this second Assembly. It looked like a big thing to undertake to hold the meeting here in Parkdale, but you cannot tell what you can do till you try. The holding of this Assembly here is of inestimable value to the Parkdale Society. The preparations for it had awakened affections for the Church, such as probably would otherwise not have been awakened. If this work had not been attempted it would have been like attempting suicide.

     8c. Mr. Charles Brown said that in connection with the subject before us, the first thought that came to his mind was the wonderful leading of the Divine Providence whereby we are enabled to enjoy the privileges which we have in the Church, especially that of receiving instruction from priests so well qualified. For this we are indebted to the Academy, which was raised up by the Lord to prepare priests who will truly proclaim the Second Coming of the Lord. The speaker related the history of the Parkdale Society, and said that the first Academy minister to preach for them was Mr. Schreck, who visited them when services were still held in the Town Hall. He then felt that his sermon had a different ring to it from other New Church sermons. When Mr. Hyatt came, there were murmurings and mutterings about Academy influences; but he taught nothing but what is in the Writings. He seconded Mr. Caldwell's remarks concerning the benefit of this Assembly to the Parkdale Society.

     8d. Mr. P. Bellinger thought it was evident that these Assemblies are of great use and benefit, and welcomed the friends to Parkdale. It had seemed quite an undertaking to hold the meeting here, but with the interest and affection put into it, it now seems quite easy.

     8e. Dr. Becker stated that the paper which was read had been very interesting and instructive to him, for, as he had more recently come into the Church, he was not so well acquainted with its history. He hoped that a history of the Academy movement would be written by someone who had taken part in it and was well acquainted with it; this would serve a great use.

     8f. Mr. Richard Roschman had been much interested in the history the Church presented in the address. It shows us how the Divine Providence leads the Church and cares for it. While listening to the account of those stirring events of ten years ago, he could not prevent some of the old war spirit coming back to him, and the question came to his mind: Would we be ready to go through the same experiences today? He believed we would, for we love the same principles now that we then fought for. Perhaps we may be called on to go through something like it again.

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Reference had been made to the growth of the Church during these ten years, and it seemed to him that there must have been a growth of the Church with individuals, else there could not have been growth with the Church as a collective man.

     8g. Mr. Roy stated that he was present at the institution of the Montreal Society, to which reference was made in the address. The Society devoted its energies to missionary work, a policy which he then opposed, and has ever since opposed. From the beginning the Writings came to him with the force of absolute Truth, and he had always felt that the first duty of the Church is the application of the doctrines to life. He spoke of wars among nations as evidences of certain states in the Church, and called attention to several extraordinary coincidences in history.

     8h. Rev. Alfred Acton desired to connect the historical paper with the bishop's address. In that address, which had made a powerful impression upon us all, we were shown that if true love reigns there will be no dissension or heresy, and all will be in freedom. We are united in the love for the acknowledgment of the Lord in His Second Coming. If we are faithful to that love, we are in freedom. Mr. Waelchli's paper indicates a leading to freedom by the Divine Providence. Each party came into freedom by the separation, for it came into the life of its own love. The separation was not sought by either of the two parties: but it was necessary in order that not only we but also the other party might come into freedom. For being free, they can develop their own ideas and see more clearly the nature of this position, and thus can choose in freedom, either to abide by it, or to reject it and come to us. If we remain faithful to our love, the Lord will bring growth, and bring us into true unity. The Lord has brought the Church into freedom to worship Him and to come into charity. That each of us may be thus free is the great use in the separation. District Assemblies such as this reach the people in their own homes, and develop the home life of the Church. He could see signs of prosperity in these Assemblies, which should bring greater growth than ever before.

     8i. Rev. J. E. Bowers said that the historical address had been of great interest to him, especially on account of his personal knowledge and experience of many of the incidents mentioned. He became a member of the Berlin Society in 1862. We have a very interesting history, and he hoped it would some day be written.

     9. On motion the Assembly adjourned until the next day, at 3 p.m.

SECOND DAY--WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 1ST, 1902.

     10. The meeting was opened, at 3 p. M., with religious services conducted by the Bishop.

     11. The minutes of the previous day were read.

12. Rev. E. S. Hyatt, on invitation, read the following paper on

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     JUDGMENT.

     In order to advance into any genuine understanding of spiritual things it is necessary to keep in mind that finite recipients can only be in appearances of truth. Those appearances are approximately true with those who suffer themselves to be taught by the Lord, but are false and opposite to truth with such as only depend upon their natural intelligence. From natural intelligence we can only understand natural judgment, therefore, at most only the natural aspect of such judgments as have relation to spiritual matters. The natural aspect is that rewards and punishments are decreed according to the merit of those judged. For judgment according to faith alone has no basis even in natural rationality. But as we learn to regard judgment from the spiritual aspect revealed by the Lord, we find it does not deal with either reward or punishment in the natural sense of those words; but that, on the Lord's part, it is purely judgment of what is best for His creatures, purely judgment of how His Infinite Love can be most wisely exercised towards each and all. In any of the operations of judgment which take place, this alone be ascribed to the Lord,--the real benefits that resulted to all concerned. The Lord never judges except from good: all other judgment is from man himself. The exercise of free determination hinges upon this point,--between dependency upon the judgment of the Lord, which leads to heaven, and the judgment merely of what is right in our own eyes, which leads to hell.

     It is indeed taught that Divine Truth judges all to hell. But this is not said of Divine Truth as it is in the Lord, for in Him it is absolutely one with the Divine Good which judges all to heaven; but it is predicated of Divine Truth as received by man separately from the Divine Good and the Divine Life. Truth is always thus received separately in the first place, that man may then exercise his free determination as to the real appropriation of its Good. It is really the confirmation of this separation by man which judges him to hell, an act which he determines himself.

     Thus the Lord is really the only Judge and His judgment has constant regard to the best welfare of all. But all that detracts from the possibility of that welfare results from man's depending merely upon his own judgment. The Lord in providing for the complete separation of these two classes is simply providing that each may be ruled as will best serve their respective states. His judgment is from good and for good. All that limits or rejects the reception of that good is from man's own judgment upon himself, when he exercises it, not as if of himself, but independently of trust in the Lord's overruling. Thus all things under the control of the Divine have some bearing upon this final separation and lead to it whether we can recognize the connection or not; but that which makes this separation necessary is man's negative attitude towards the Lord's judgment, for which he practically strives to substitute his own.

     Besides this plenary separation, the Lord's judgment effects separation into societies according to the uses loved and performed, but this separation is compatible with conjunction by means of the common love to the Lord and the mutual love of uses of all for each and of each for all which obtains in the heavenly state.

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     In this world judgments of both kinds are effected, but not so fully and completely, on account of the necessities of man's exercise of free determination. Hence we should recognize that such separations are more or less partially effected, and that the distinction between that which leads finally to complete separation as between heaven and hell, and that which leads only to the distinct performance of uses cannot always be positively discerned by us. It is wise and sufficient for us to acknowledge that our judgment is finite and fallible, but having sincerely made that acknowledgment, we should judge, as of ourselves but from the Lord's leading, whether the states of others indicate that we should conjoin ourselves to, or should separate ourselves from them in order best to fulfill the duties which are called for by allegiance to the Lord's revelation of Himself as the One alone that can judge us to Heaven. For in separating on that ground we do not regard persons as such but only the states manifested by them which we judge to be inimical to what we regard as loyalty to the Lord. In doing this, our end should be not to judge others, but only to determine thereby our own individual state in relation to the Lord, recognizing that what we do in reality only affects the exercise of our own free determination and is altogether subordinate to the universal judgment of the Lord which effects good to all and each, according to their attitude in His sight and their capacity of reception. Unless we thus voluntarily subordinate our own judgment to His, we judge ourselves to the state of hell.

     But with full and genuine acknowledgment of that subordination, we can and ought to judge as of ourselves and seek to conjoin ourselves with those who appear to love the principles of truth received from the Lord, and to separate ourselves from those who appear to subordinate that truth to their own intelligence, and who subordinate trust in the Lord's Providence to their own prudence; or rather, we should recognize that those who do so, separate themselves from those who are truly loyal to the Lord.

     12a. Mr. Waelchli said that the paper just read enables us to view the doctrine concerning Judgment in its true light. We should bear in mind the teaching so clearly set forth, that in all judgment there is the mercy of the Lord, who regards the good of all. We are taught that all judgment is effected upon imaginary heavens. At the time of the Last Judgment a number of imaginary heavens existed in the higher regions of the world of spirits. They were formed by Christians, most of whom were confirmed in falsities, and while internally evil, yet led an externally good and pious life. Associated with them were simple good spirits, who were deceived by the good externals of those heavens. It was on account of these simple good, that those heavens could not be suddenly destroyed, since in such case they would have followed their leaders to hell. The judgment was effected by the Divine Truth inflowing into those heavens, first mildly and then more and more powerfully.

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The evil opposed the truth and denied it, and finally became furious against it. Thus the simple good were enabled to see the true state of those with whom they were associated, and could be separated and raised into the New Heaven. Then the wicked were cast into hell. Since the Last Judgment such imaginary heavens are still being formed in the world of spirits, and after continuing for a time, a judgment takes place. On earth similar judgments are now taking place. The various organizations of the Old Church are imaginary heavens, associated with which are some in simple good, for whose sake those organizations are permitted to continue. But as the Divine Truth of the Lord's Second Coming is Proclaimed, and as the Churches oppose it, see the state which exists there, and separate themselves and enter the New Church Judgments with each of us, in regeneration, take place in a similar manner. We all have our imaginary heavens, believing things to be good and true which are not. The divine truth inflows, and if the imaginary heaven is abolished, we come more fully into consociation with the New Heaven; but if we cling to our imaginations, we become the more associated with hell. The judgment which took place in the Church ten years ago was effected according to the same law. There was in the Church an imaginary heaven,--a heaven in which many things were believed to be good and true which were not in accordance with the doctrines. The Truth inflowed, and a separation, a Judgment, took place. Judgments will always take place in the Church, for without them there can be no progress. But they will not necessarily always be accompanied with the separation of persons; for the essential of Judgment is the separation of states, and if the entire body of the Church rejects disorderly states, then all its members will remain within the fold.

     12b. Mr. Acton said that the subject of Judgment involved the whole doctrine of regeneration which is nothing but the judgment of the evil in man and its separation and rejection that the man may come into order. All judgments are effected by the nearer presence of the Divine truth, for the evil are in torment and flee away, while the good are enlightened and can be separated. It is similar in the judgments that take place within each one of us. When the Divine Truth approaches more near, it reveals our evils and causes us great pain. We are then free to avoid the truth by flight, or to separate the evil. Thus judgments ever tend to bring man to truly believe what he says he believes, or to openly deny what he denies in his heart. In the other world, judgments are, in general, final, and their end is that men go either to heaven or hell. But in this world judgments are not final but are always progressive; nor can we ever say, that on the one side all are evil and false and on the other all are good. Still, each side represents some principle which cannot be together with the other and it is of the Lord's will that they be separated that both be developed in freedom and bear their legitimate fruit. Judgments and separations here, do not take place except from causes in the other world. In the early day of the New Church all spirits who professed faith in the doctrines were in one society in the world of spirits.

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As some of this society increased in the perception of the truth so they came into more and more of a conflict with those who were in obscurities and fallacies, for these infested. A judgment and a separation became necessary. And this judgment had its effect in the Church on earth. There can be no doubt that the separation of the New Church from the Old which took place some years after Swedenborg's death was the result of a separation and judgment on mixed societies of receivers in the other world. In fact, this is involved in the teaching that the New Church will grow on earth as societies of that Church grow in the other world; judgments and separations will take place at longer or shorter periods in both worlds, that we may conjoin ourselves with free societies in the other world, and receive from them a more powerful influx by which the Church can come into greater order. But must remember that as the Church grows, thus as the Lord becomes more present, there will he a greater tendency for evil men to separate themselves. For it is of the Lord's Providence that men should profess what they do not believe. Hence as the Church grows, so does it more behoove us to become true and living members.

     12c. Rev. J. E. Bowers spoke of the origin and organization of the Academy. The originators had done nothing more than to teach the doctrines in their purity, and taught them more strongly than others. This caused a conflict and strong opposition, with denunciations and even slanders. But the gates of hells did not prevail. We must go on in the work of co-operating with the Lord in the establishment of the true New Church.

     12d. Mr. Rudolf Roschman expressed his pleasure in listening to the paper and the remarks of the speakers. It is sometimes asked whether we shall ever re-united with those from whom we separated. Regarded externally, the Convention seems to take a more charitable attitude towards us. Is such a thing as re-union at all possible? Under what conditions? Are we getting nearer together? The time may come when we may have to face these questions. He would like to hear the priests speak on this subject.

     12e. Mr. Carswell referred to the Judgment of ten years ago as an event which brought us light and freedom. We believed in the General Convention and did all we could to strengthen it. But things were obscure. When the truth was taught that the Writings are the Word, the judgment came. We have come to see far more clearly than before that the Church does not depend on any man or any body of men. We are not exhorted or persuaded to do certain things. We are left free. This is a peculiarity of the General Church.

     12f. Bishop Pendleton said that the discussion of re-union involves something of a reconsideration of the events of ten years ago. We should always be in freedom to reconsider. Would you be willing to retrace your steps? Have experiences been such as to justify the acts leading to the separation, or do we see reason to reconsider and repent?

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Let us speak freely, and arrive at the truth. Is there any desire to retrace our steps? If we acted under the Divine Providence, results should confirm the steps taken; but if of Divine Permission, we should be willing to see and repent. We have had the doctrine, now let us face the situation. If we feel justified in our actions, we can go on with greater confidence.

     12g. Mr. Rudolf Roschman said that as this question had now been placed before us, he could express himself in fuller freedom than before. He believed that no one here would think for a moment that we were not right in the steps we look, and that we thereby came into greater freedom and into a happiness we did not know before. But the younger members cannot be expected to realize this as fully as those who passed through the struggle. For the sake of these, the differences between the two parties should be contrasted from time to time. The New Church man sees the truth of the Doctrines more clearly by contrast with the teachings of the Old Church. The same applies to the present case. Many of our young people probably do not realize all that was involved in the separation. Consequently there may be with some of them a lack of that zeal for our cause which we would like to see. And if this zeal be lacking, they may wander away from us and drift into the state out of which we came by the separation. If they are to stay with us, they need to see the differences of principles clearly.

     12h. Mr. Carswell thought there was no cause for alarm. The young people will all stand by the Church. We should not live in the past, but in the present, and look to the future.

     12i. Mr. Waelchli believed that Mr. Roschman had pointed out a real danger. It will not do to close our eyes against it. Man's tendency in spiritual things is not to progress, but to turn and go back. The Lord keeps us from following this tendency by contrasting for us in the Word the blessings which come from progress with the misery which follows from turning back. Therefore we, in guiding the young, must set forth and contrast the differences between the principles and life of the Church which we enjoy and the principles and life of the Church with those from whom we separated, and warn them against the danger of turning back. The difference between the two bodies is as great now as it was at the time of separation. [Mr. Acton: "It is greater."] Yes, it is greater; for we have progressed into a more interior acknowledgment and application of our principles, while they as to their attitude towards these principles are still standing where we left them. The difference is manifest not only in doctrinal views, but in the very life and work of the Church. Re-union would mean that we must abandon our principles, our work, and our Church life. Are we willing to do this?

     12j. Mr. Acton said that the question is a living one. It is not an issue of the past, but of the present. Are we to have a lurking sympathy for what we left, or are we to stand by what we have? Referring to the idea of contrast, he said that in religious instruction in the schools we contrast the doctrines of the New Church with those of the Old; and this, not from any fear that our children may go back, but in order to strengthen them in spiritual knowledges and spiritual affections.

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For the same reason we should teach them the history of the New Church; and more of this ought to be introduced into our schools. The value of history is to cultivate the rational. Lee us teach the children the history of the separation in order to cultivate their rational, and enable them thereby to sec causes. In considering the subject before us, we must not be affected by sentimentality. Let us face the question put to us by the chair and ask: Why did we separate? and, do we repent? If we would re-unite, two courses are open: either we give up our principles or they give up theirs. It must be evident to all here that there can be, for us, but one basis of re-union, and that is that they come to us. And their coming to us does not involve so much an intellectual acceptance of our principles, but it is rather a question of their entering into that life of the Church which is with us. We represent a certain state,--a state into which we have come in the course of years; and no one can by the mere intellectual acceptance of our principles suddenly come into it. This indicates how great is the difference between the two bodies. Take, by way of illustration, the social which was held here last night. There is and can be nothing at all like it outside of the General Church. The same is true of our worship, our government, our methods of instruction, in fact, of all things of our life as a Church.

     13. The Secretary called attention to the fact that certain business matters of the Assembly required attention, and suggested, in order that the consideration of the subject before the meeting might be continued, that a business meeting be held by the men in the evening, previous to the Men's Meeting. On motion, the suggestion was adopted.

     14. Rev. Reginald Brown, of Pittsburg, who had arrived during the session, now stated that he had been commissioned by the Pittsburg Society to convey its hearty greetings to this Assembly. The announcement was received with applause, and on motion Mr. Brown was requested to express the thanks of this Assembly to the Pittsburg Society for their kind greetings.

     15. The Secretary read an extract from a letter of Mr. C. Frankish, of Ontario, California, to Mr. Carswell, expressing his good wishes for the Assembly.

     16. The discussion of the subject before the meeting was resumed.

     16a. Mr. Carswell could not see the question in a different light than before. The two parties are further apart than ten years ago, and the discussion about re-union seemed to him much like a waste of powder.

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     16b. Mr. Caldwell believed that reunion is impossible, except by the other party coming to us by receiving the Church as it is with us. Our consociation in the spiritual world is different from theirs, and therefore external consociation cannot be effected, except at a great sacrifice. He, like Mr. Carswell, could not see much use in the discussion. It merely tends to interfere with hopefulness. It may be a good thing to think about, but not to think about long.

     16c. Mr. Roy fully agreed with Mr. Acton. If the study of history develops the rational, this must be the case in the highest sense in regard to the history of the New Church. In severe states through which he had passed, he had always found it beneficial to review the past. The question in regard to the rising generation is a living one and must be squarely met. We must not shirk it.

     16d. Mr. Bowers said it was desirable that all should understand thoroughly the causes of the separation, so that they may have a clearer idea why they belong to the General Church.

     16e. Dr. Becker said he could not understand the bearing of some of the remarks which had been made. He could not see how any one of the General Church could think of going elsewhere, and believed we need have no anxiety whatever for our young people.

     16f. Mr. C. Brown thought that there was good reason for bringing up this question, and that it had been well answered. At the time of separation the lines were more strictly drawn than now. Is this an indication of increasing strength or of weakness? It has this in its favor, that it brings to everyone greater freedom either to remain with us or to depart. And if anyone who is not really with us, separates himself, the body does not lose but gains in strength.

     16g. Mr. Hyatt, in summing up the discussion, said that the Lord is ever seeking to lead man to heaven; and if we do not consent to be led. He still leads and provides the best we can have. We must endeavor to place ourselves in the stream of the Divine Providence. To come into stream of the Divine Providence is to come into heaven. All that does not produce heavenly results comes from hell. If we do not follow the Truth, we separate ourselves from heaven. The whole problem of the Church is to obey the Writings. If this be done there will be order and a heavenly state; but if it be not done, then men separate themselves. We must put ourselves into the right attitude for the reception of what the Writings teach, for these alone can lead us out of states of spiritual obscurity. We separated from the Canada Association, because they were not loyal to the Doctrines. But, in reality, we did not separate from them, but they separated themselves from us, by not being loyal. We should seek to keep our young people, but we must not worry about them. The temptation to worry about others comes from hell. Let us realize that the Doctrines are given us in order that we may overcome our own evils. We must not seek to be a providence for others. Our duty to our children is to teach and lead them in accordance with the Lord's Will. The Lord has given us this work to do for our own good.

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If we faithfully perform the duties which the Lord gives us, following the Doctrines in all things, the Church will prosper and there will be harmony. The harmony of heaven results from everyone seeking to be led by the Lord. While we should be glad to help others, yet we must always respect their freedom, remembering that the Lord alone can lead man to what is best for him. And in no wise let us imagine that we are better than others.

     16h. Mr. Rothermel wished to add a teaching which was given by Mr. Hyatt in a recent sermon, namely, that if man gets into trouble it is his own fault; for the Lord will not let man stand alone. So, when disturbances and separations arise, the disturbance is within man himself, and he separates himself, and has only himself to blame.

     17. Mr. Rudolph Roschman offered the following resolution, which was seconded, and unanimously carried:

     Resolved, That the thanks of this Assembly be tendered the Parkdale Society for all they have done to make this meeting so happy an occasion, and also for the kind and hospitable manner in which they have entertained those attending the Assembly from a distance.

     18. On motion, it was resolved, that after the completion of business at the meeting this evening, the Assembly stand adjourned to meet again at the call of the Bishop.

EVENING SESSION--BUSINESS MEETING.

     19. The meeting was called to order at 8:30 p. m.

     20. The Secretary stated that there are several business matters which require attention, among them the publication of the Journal of the meeting, and the raising of funds. At present the secretaries attend to all business matters, and they wish to be relieved of this responsibility. Moreover, it is not desirable that the valuable time of the Assembly be taken up with the discussion of business affairs, and he would therefore suggest that a committee be appointed to have charge of the same.

     21. After some discussion, in the course of which the advisability of publishing the Journal was also considered, it was

     22. Moved by Mr. Waelchli, seconded by Mr. Carswell, and unanimously carried, that a General Committee be appointed to have charge of the business affairs of the Assembly, and that it consist of the ministers connected with the body and five laymen.

     23. The Bishop appointed the following to be the General Committee: The Rev. Messrs. Waelchli, Hyatt, and Stebbing, and the Messrs. R. Carswell, R. R. Caldwell, Richard Roschman, Rudolf Roschman, and T. S. Kuhl.

     24. There being no further business, the meeting stood adjourned.

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SOCIAL EVENTS OF THE ASSEMBLY.

THE BANQUET AND GENERAL SOCIAL.

     On Tuesday evening, December 3lst, the Parkdale Society entertained the Assembly at a banquet, which was followed by a general social.

     The banquet was held in the dining hall of the school building, and nearly one hundred persons took part. A happy and delightful sphere prevailed. Rev. E. S. Hyatt presided and acted, as toastmaster, introducing each toast with appropriate remarks. The following toasts were proposed:

     A Welcome to Our Guests. Mr. Rudolf Roschman, being called upon to respond, said that it was a great pleasure to him, in responding to this toast, which carried with it a hearty welcome on the part of the Parkdale Society to their brethren from a distance, to say that it is quite evident, to judge from the happy faces around this festive board, that the guests are having a good time, and it goes without saying that they are greatly enjoying this meeting of the Ontario Assembly with the Parkdale Society, the first meeting of this kind held here. He congratulated the Parkdale Society on the success which has crowned their efforts in providing for this Assembly. They have shown what can be done by any society if all lend a helping hand to further the uses of the Church. This meeting is an evidence of a growing interest in the Church among the members, and let us hope that we may return to our homes much benefitted by our attending it, and with increased love for the uses of the Church, which should evermore be the first love in our life. In conclusion, he thanked the Parkdale Society, in behalf of the visitors, for the kind and affectionate sentiments expressed by this toast.

     Co-operation. Mr. Charles Brown, responding, said that co-operation is essential to the growth of the Church, for we have the teaching in T. C. R. 580: "If a man is not saved, he is in fault, because he does not operate." So on the natural plane, without co-operation things would come to a standstill. In a Society, to the extent that there is full and hearty co-operation among its members, there will be growth and prosperity, and to a lack of co-operation may be ascribed the severe trials through which the New Church has already passed. Co-operation must be accompanied with self-denial,--a constant sinking of our own individuality. If a youth truly loves a maiden, what will he not do for her sake; no sacrifice appears too great.

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Should we not one and all strive to come into a similar attitude towards the Lord's New Church, so beautifully represented as His Bride and Wife.

     Authority. Rev. J. E. Cowers, in response, spoke of opposition to the Divine Authority of the Writings as the cause of the separation which took place in the Canada Association ten years ago. That separation was unavoidable. It came to pass in the order of the Divine Providence, and therefore at the right time. It made it possible for the work of the Church to go on better, and for its uses to be done more thoroughly than it would otherwise hale been. There has been peace and prosperity in the Church to an extent that would have been quite impossible if the opposing parties had continued to work together in the same general body. There is no such thing as a New Church, in any true sense of the word, without the belief, from the internal affection of the heart, in the absolute Divinity, and therefore the indisputable authority, of the Writings.

     The distinctiveness of the division. Mr. Carswell, being called upon, pointed out that there is a distinct line of division between those who acknowledge the Writings as the Word and those who do not. It is not a question as to whether we desire that distinctiveness or not. It exists, and we cannot alter it; for the principles and the life according to them are distinct, and this causes and maintains the separation.

     Uses and needs. Mr. Caldwell, in response, read a paper which opened with the following quotation from the Writings: "The Church is the neighbor above one's country, for he who provides for the Church from love loves the neighbor in a higher degree, for he desires and wishes to others heaven and happiness of life to eternity." (H. D. 94.) Man is born, not for himself but for others. The Church is our neighbor, and we must seek to do all we can for it. We must not wait with this until we have first provided all that we think we need for ourselves. We have the Church, with its abundance of needs, that an opportunity may be always at hand for doing something without the hope of recompense in kind,-that by this means man may come into the happy state of the angels, concerning whom we are taught that they are willing to give everything and retain nothing, and that the more they give the more they receive, thus realizing the truth that it is more blessed to give than to receive.

     The toasts being concluded, all passed to the hall upstairs, where some time was spent in dancing and in listening to songs excellently rendered by members of the Parkdale Society.

     On the approach of the midnight hour which would usher in a New Year, the chairs were arranged for worship, and the Rev. Alfred Acton concluded a short service. He made an address appropriate to the occasion, and exactly at 12 o'clock all knelt and said the Lord's Prayer.

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     Happy New Year greetings then followed, after which social pleasures continued for another hour.

THE MEETING AT THE GLADSTONE HOTEL

     On Wednesday morning the men of the Parkdale Society each took his male guests for a walk, ending at the Gladstone Hotel, the parlor of which ball been engaged for the occasion. The meeting here was a surprise to all the visitors, and was very much enjoyed. After some time spent in merriment, the meeting assumed a more serious character Reference to the departure of our brother, Robert M. Glenn, to the other world called forth several noteworthy speeches, and the thoughts of all were strongly turned to that life for which the life in this world is a preparation. The association of the Church on earth with the Church in the other world was spoken of, and all were made to realize, perhaps more fully than ever before, how important it is that we do our part that the two may become more fully a one.

THE MEN'S MEETING.

On Wednesday evening all the men present at the Assembly met in the dining hall of the school building. The Bishop presided and proposed for consideration the sentence in Conjugial Love, 459: "It is better, indeed, that it should he reserved." A long and interesting discussion followed.

THE LADIES' MEETING

While the Men's Meeting was in progress, the ladies spent an enjoyable social evening at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Peter Bellinger.

     
Of the Second Ontario Assembly it can truly he said that it was an occasion of incalculable value for the good of the Church. All, who were present, can, we believe, testify that it was the means a affection for the doctrines and life of the Church, thus serving for the fuller establishment of the Church with each and all. F. E. WAELCHLI, Secretary

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Editorial Department 1902

Editorial Department       Editor       1902

     THE WRITINGS STILL "THE WORD OF GOD."

A correspondent writes as follows:

     "I do not quite understand the article on the Biblical Use of the term 'the Word' in your January number. It seems so strange to quote the Apostles in order to prove a theological point in a New Church paper. The term 'the Word' may indeed have different meanings, (H. D. 265), but when we ordinarily confine it to the Sacred Scripture alone we only follow Swedenborg, who used the term in the same way. Certainly the writings of the Apostles contain many 'Divine truths,' and yet Swedenborg declares them not to be the Word. (H. D. 266). The Word is something quite different from and above all other Writings. Throughout the Doctrine of the Sacred Scripture we are told the reason why it is so, and all that is said there about the Word can be applied to nothing else, not even to the Writings of Swedenborg. Thus the Writings themselves, the authority of which we must steadily hold to, lest our spiritual ship should go adrift."

     Our correspondent will no doubt admit that it is as proper for a New Church journal to quote from the writings of the Apostles as it was for Swedenborg to do so in the Heavenly Doctrines. In Searle's Index to Swedenborg's Scripture Quotations there are no less than twenty-four pages full of references to the Apostolic Epistles and other non-canonical books quoted by Swedenborg in support of the Doctrines of the New Church. Moreover, we quoted from the writings of the Apostles only to show the apostolic use of the term "the Word."

     It will not do to place the Writings of Swedenborg on a par with the Epistles, for the former are a Divine Revelation, which the latter are not. The writings of the Apostles do, indeed, "contain many 'Divine truths,'" and these Divine truths, in so far as they are derived immediately from the inspired Word, are in themselves the Word of God, for every Divine truth is a word spoken by God. Nevertheless, the writings of the Apostles, are not, like the Writings of Swedenborg, "truths continuous from the Lord." (T. C. R. 508).

     The question whether the Writings of the New Church are the Word of God depends entirely upon the question whether they are a Divine Revelation. Our correspondent will probably admit that they are such a Revelation since their "authority" is upheld in her letter. But if they are a Divine Revelation, then they are Divinely spoken, and that which is Divinely spoken is the Word of God.

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     This is but one side of the question, however. Though the Writings are "the Word of God," they are not, and are not to be called, "THE Word." The Word in the heavens is surely "the Word of God," and yet it is not the Word, in which the Divine Truth resides in its fulness, in its holiness, and in its power. The Writings, being the revelation of the Word such as it is in the Heavens, are not "the Word" in the same sense that the Letter of the Word is the Word, being as dependent upon the latter as the soul is dependent upon the body in this world. A thought is not "a word," in the ultimate sense, until it is spoken or written, and in this world the spirit of man is not the man except when it is one with the body. Nevertheless, though we must carefully preserve these distinctions, it is absolutely necessary to acknowledge that thoughts are words, spiritual words, the words of the universal language in the spiritual world,--and that the spirit of man is a man, a spiritual man, "the man himself," who lives in a completely human form in the world of spirits. And so, also, it is absolutely necessary for rational thought to acknowledge that the spiritual sense of the Word is the Word of God, the spiritual Word,--and that the revelation of the spiritual sense, i. e., the Writings, is the spiritual Word revealed to men, and in that sense the Word of God.

     The practical application of this teaching is that in the Writings we have the Truth, Divine, unfailing Truth, the words and teachings of Him who speaks not as the scribes and the pharisees, but as one having authority. But for any one to ascribe "authority" to these Writings, without acknowledging them to be the Word of God, is to rest his faith upon what is merely human, the word of a man. It is to follow Swedenborg instead of the Lord.
Monthly Review 1902

Monthly Review              1902

     THE NEW CHURCH JOURNALS.

     New Church Review. January, 1902. The most striking paper in this number of the Review is the one by Rev. James Reed on "The teachings of the New Church concerning Marriage," which was read at the meeting of the Massachusetts Association. Mr. Reed correctly estimates the value of Conjugial Love and truly analyses the attitude of the great majority of New Church men in regard to it when he says "There is reason to fear that the teachings of the New Church concerning marriage do not receive the attention they deserve. So far as this is the case the Church as a whole must suffer."

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And for this reason he brings these teachings concerning "this most vital of all matters" before the Church. "Do we," he asks, "sufficiently consider them ourselves? Do we diligently teach them to our children? These are serious questions and well worthy of our attention as an associated body of the Church." How rarely have they considered by the Church! How strangely silent have her ministers been! Indeed, it would seem as if most of them did not know that arcana concerning this love, such as have never before been known, are now revealed to the New Church. Mr. Reed, however, shows the revealed spiritual nature of marriage as being inseparable from religion. "There is no true marriage in which the Lord has not an acknowledged place." Union in religion is, therefore, an essential thing in marriage. Those about to enter into that state must ask themselves "Do we think and feel alike about the Lord? Have we one heart and one spirit in our love and worship of Him?" With these principles, "a young man or woman will consider marriage with one of different religion as an impossibility; that the idea of such a connection is not to be harbored for a moment." The teaching is timely, in view of the profane notions on marriage which have recently--and without protest--found voice in the messenger.

     Very different from Mr. Reed's paper is that by Rev. John Goddard on "The importance and right method of instruction concerning marriage." Several good points are lightly and in the most general way touched upon; but all is so general, so tentative and so merely suggestive that the reader can get but a vague idea of what is wrong and what the remedy. Speaking of the necessity of teaching children respecting the relation of the sexes, Mr. Goddard, after a page or two of almost self-evident generalities, continues "Better, far better if this instruction could be combined religion. Better if the children of the New Church could be instructed in these things by New Church men and women. And the question is hereby suggested whether the Church might not provide in some way for such instruction." While we are glad that the point is even "suggested"     in the periodicals of the Church, still, we might justly expect something more than a "suggestion" from one of the oldest New Church ministers. There is, in his following words, a fatalistic optimism which augurs ill for progress: "Let us not be too anxious about this subject. It is enough if we are following the best light we have." Why not get more "light?" The Writings are open.

     Col. James B. Keene makes a powerful arraignment of Modern Science in his virile paper on "The assumptions of Evolution." While fully recognizing the immeasurable value of the facts which the evolutionists have unearthed, he shows how barren of results those facts have been to their discoverers. He rightly maintains that modern science is principally "an immense arsenal of bare facts, while the great mass of the deductions therefrom are merely guesses, advanced today and retracted tomorrow." There is a display of imagination suggestive of the Writings in the following picture which Mr. Keene draws of the modern "men of science:" "They are like a man living in a coal mine-ignorant of the world of life and light above.

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They may follow up the seams and make galleries to work them by the faint light of their safety lamps; but they send up the fuel itself to those above who can utilize their produce in a manner beyond their utmost conception." As a specimen of the results when they attempt to use the "fuel" themselves, he quotes a definition from Herbert Spencer, than which, he says, "it would be difficult to find a more pretentious endeavor to cloud error under big words, arrogating a vase appearance of wisdom by means of phrases which only reveal abysmal ignorance." Evolution of life, says Spencer, is "an integration of matter and concomitant dispersion of motion, during which the matter passes from an indefinite incoherent homogeneity to a definite coherent heterogeneity, and during which the retained motion goes through a parallel transformation." Truly, "the world might as well have remained unenlightened."

     "The birth and childhood of the Lord" by Rev. John Worcester is the only written portion of a projected work on the Gospel of Luke, which failing health obliged him to give up. The explanations of the incidents related by Luke are suggestive, though very general, but we cannot see that they throw much light on the Lord's birth or childhood. In fact, Mr. Worcester tends to become obscure when he touches on the interior doctrines concerning the Lord, and in what he says about the Human there is more evidence of sentimentalism than of the teachings of the Writings. "The long lesson of life was that the Human must from love for the Father take up the Father's work and do it patiently and lovingly wherever men needed saving, until the Human was wholly the Father's love of saving." The Writings teach that the assumed Human was nothing but evil and, far from "taking up" the Father's work, opposed it. It was the Divine within that worked and that finally rejected the infirm Human. Characteristic of Mr. Worcester's article is the attempt to elucidate the spiritual sense from the meanings of proper names--a line of study which is very profitable and has been little cultivated.

     In "Ancient religions and the Ancient Church" Mr. Chas. Harvey essays to give the significance of the gods of Greek mythology. He opens with a very imposing introduction. But one which hardly seems necessary for the very meagre meal which he spreads before his readers. The significations given suggest rather the ideas of modern Christianity or even of naturalism than the noble doctrines of the Ancient Church.

     An issue of the Review would hardly be complete without some notice of the mysterious and word laden philosophy of the Germans. In this number we hare an attempt by Rev. E. D. Daniels to explain "Schopenhauer's doctrine of the will," but the explanation goes to show that the task is an impossible one. And, after all, cui bono.? The "doctrine" impresses us as being a plethora of words with 2. painful absence of ideas.

     In "Biblical and Doctrinal Studies" Rev. A. F. Frost writes instructively and al some length on "The Divine Incarnation." His article is distinguished by clear and lucid thought and considerable study of the Writings, from which he quotes very freely.

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We commend it to all who seek enlightenment on this "supreme doctrine of the Church."

     New Church Messenger. January 15. Rev. A. R. Francisco, himself once a crypto-newjerusalemite preaching in a Presbyterian pulpit, thus describes his experiences while in that state: "How often have I groaned, being troubled in spirit, ever the fact that I dare to circulate a tract, paper or book emanating from the New Church, because of that disgraceful brand, 'Swedenborg,' or 'New Jerusalem.' I was wholly confident that almost all of my congregation would readily receive the message if the messenger was let out. In spite of all precaution to hide myself, the heresy hunter found me out, and when the chance came to make an open appeal to all these sweet-spirited Christians, only three out of a supposed hundred would in any degree accept the revelations, while the ninety-seven mocked, despised, scandalized and libeled the preacher of the new faith, spontaneously and without cause."

     January 29. It is with sincere pleasure we notice that the affirmative side is at last heard from on the subject of "marrying out of the Church." "J. W." briefly but clearly presents the Doctrine of the Church on the subject. "W. H. A." follows suite, and a series of articles is promised from the pen of Rev. E. J. E. Schreck.

     The Sacred Key. January. There is a western breeziness about our little contemporary in Denver, and its diction is certainly unconventional. Thus it "telephones" to a dignified journal in the East. "Hello, New Church Messenger! Say, you editorial board have taken a laudable step in the appointment of Miss [-- --] as editor of the department of Church news," etc. Imagine the feelings of the Messenger in being thus addressed!

     The New Church Herald. February. The editor, Mr. Thiel, announces that he has "found it advisable to withdraw from the organized New Church in Chicago" owing to "some opposition and the 'official' change recently made in New Church circles here." We notice with regret the negative attitude towards the "'New Church' Societies" which is taken by the Herald. The Independent is dead (Alas, poor Yorick!). Is the Herald to succeed as a troubler of the Church?

     Morning Light. January 18. In our January issue we referred to an article by Rev. James Hyde in Morning Light for Nov. 3d, in which the writer took occasion to condemn the work, recently undertaken by the Swedenborg Scientific Association, of transcribing and publishing the remaining scientific MSS. of Swedenborg. Mr. Hyde took the ground that the MSS. in question were utterly worthless, and that the Church "would do well to take care of them by letting them remain in manuscript." In answer to these and other criticisms, there now appears a communication from the secretary of the Publishing Committee of the Scientific Association, in which, by quotations from the Documents, he defends the Association from the charge of having placed misleading information before the Church.

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He also points out the importance of publishing all of Swedenborg's literary remains in order that every student of the present or of future ages may judge for himself as to the value of the MSS. in question.

     The communication is followed by a reply from Mr. Hyde. The reply does not, however, touch upon any of the arguments adduced, but merely repeats the former statements of its author.

     In a Postscript, Mr. Hyde complains that the Life, in its review of his articles on "Swedenborg's Bibles" attacks his conclusion without advancing anything against his evidence, and the next moment he rather inconsistently denies that the conclusion attacked was his conclusion. The Life quoted Mr. Hyde's conclusions in his own words; but it does not feel called upon to enter into a detailed refutation of every "conclusion" which it may notice. Some conclusions are their own refutation.

     January 25. Rev. W. A. Presland contributes to this number the first of a series of sermons on "The Lord's message to the Christian World." In his definitions he makes a distinction between the "Old Church" and the "Dead Church." Men whose love and faith has declined, but who still retain enough to keep the Church alive within them are "little 'Old Churches' " and taken together, form "the Old Church:" while the "Dead Church" consists of those in evils of life. This is quite a new distinction and one unknown in the Writings. Those Mr. Presland calls the "Old Church," the Writings call the simple in the Old Church.

     February 1. Speaking of the discussion by the Boston New Church Club of the question of education, whether or not it belongs to the Church, the editor of the "Junior Members' Corner" (Rev. W. H. Claxton) says: "It is a practical and important question, which might well receive more attention from the New Church in this country. We regret to note that two of the New Church day schools in Lancashire are being closed, and promise to become a thing of the past, without any previous adequate consideration of the important principle involved. Ought we as New Churchmen to be content to entrust the education of our children to schools in which the principles of the True Christian Religion are unknown? and if we do, can we expect them to retain their faith in the truths of the new dispensation? That is the question, and it is one of immense importance."

     New Church Magazine. December. In a short paragraph of a review by Rev. W. T. Stonestreet we see the harmful results of a gross, but common mistranslation of the Writings, a mistranslation which has led many into obscurity. He says "In the Most Ancient period, a perception or an intuition of God was possible, and there is still, as Swedenborg expresses it, 'an influx universal from God into the souls of men, teaching them that there is a God and that He is one' (T. C. R. 8), but whatever was impressed upon the consciousness of the men of those times nothing remains but certain corrupt traditions; and an external revelation is now necessary to convey to the human mind any definite idea of God's nature and character."

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The writer thus labors under the impression that in the Most Ancient Church men learned by intuition and not by revelation, and that even at this day the Lord "teaches" the truth that there is a God by influx, though on this last point he adds, that Revelation is now necessary to convey any "definite" idea of God. The passage referred to, properly translated, says "There is a universal influx from God into the souls of men, that God is and that He is one." (T. C. R. 8.) There is no "teaching;" and indeed the passage distinctly states that "the truths of faith come in by hearing" and therefore by revelation. The influx into the soul, if not obscured by evils and falses, disposes man to interiorly accept these truths of faith, especially that concerning the unity of God. Man has no intuitive knowledge, or connate ideas whatever. See for instance his state when uninstructed, as described in C. L. 151b. And yet the poor men there spoken of had this influx "that God is." See also S. S. 116, D. P. 254. Man can learn no truth except by revelation. The Men of the Most Ancient Church, however, unlike the men of our time, had internal revelation. And by this is not meant "intuition" in the sense of inflowing knowledge, but the opening of the Spiritual sight and hearing so that they were taught by an external way in the spiritual world (A. C. 125, 597, 895) This internal revelation was to them the Word of the Lord (A. C. 2895-2896); and, nothing opposing the influx from God into their souls, they received this Word when heard.

     January, 1902. Although there is in the New Church a widespread tendency to see signs of dawning truth in the vastate Church of this day, there are very few who would think for a moment of seeing truth in the dogmas of that Church before the Last Judgment, particularly in its doctrine of the Trinity. But this is what Rev. S. J. C. Goldsack does in his article on "Phases of Trinitarianism." He even goes further and defends Arius himself. The whole article breathes of the spirit of Evolution and there is hardly a paragraph which is not directly contradicted by the Writings. Mr. Goldsack begins with a false "axiom" "that the variation of humanity's faith will gradually progress towards absolute truth." If this means anything it means that there is now on earth no "absolute truth;" that the Divine and Crowning revelation to the New Church is only an incident in the progress of the human race towards such truth, which it is to get from Mr. Goldsack illustrates his "axiom" by a study of Christian dogma in its historical aspects. "In nearly 2,000 years Christianity has progressed step by step in preparation for the supreme and central truth of the second advent" that the Lord is the one God. Would he call the obscuration of the Church in the darkness of night progression? or the almost entire extinction of the knowledge of God a preparation for the New Church? The whole of his argument is based on the statement of the Writings that if, in the Athanasian Creed, instead of three Persons, one be understood, the truth may be made to agree with that Creed.

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And from this he proceeds to demonstrate that the various "phases of the doctrine of the Trinity through which the Christian Church passed all tended to the gradual growth and development of the true idea." His method is a simple one which he applies to each new development in that fearful heresy which destroyed the Church. To quote an example "Arius was a thorough-going Trinitarian [!] though he maintained 'that the Son of God, if truly derived from the Father and by His will, must be a creature though the highest in the universe.' Again we urge that when we understand that thought is the form of affection, wisdom the form of love, truth the form, the outbirth of good, the doctrine of Arius must be sustained." And therefore Arius was misunderstood and "has been deemed the arch heretic of Church history, but altogether unjustly so."--Yet we have no less an authority for this estimation of him than the Divine Writings (T. C. R. 635). And in like manner Mr. Goldsack sees truth in Sabellianism and even in the Nicene Creed which yet destroyed the Church (T. C. R. 176). But we have said enough to render more unnecessary.

     Rev. J. R. Rendell contributes a very able review of Haeckel's Riddle of the Universe wherein it is maintained that all things, even matter, have a soul equally as man; that the soul is material and mortal; and that free will does not exist.
CRITICISMS ON THE TRANSLATIONS OF SWEDENBORG INVITED 1902

CRITICISMS ON THE TRANSLATIONS OF SWEDENBORG INVITED              1902

     In conformity with a recent resolution of the Board of Managers of the American Swedenborg Printing and Publishing Society, their Editorial and Publication Committee earnestly solicits criticism from all quarters, in suggestion of inaccuracies and errors in any English rendering of our author, whether done under superintendence of that Society or otherwise. The Committee assume that this request so far as it applies to the excellent work of translators other than those Employed by its Society, will be interpreted as well-intended on its part, in the interest of increasing excellence, and not as inviting captious criticism of labors for which all are sincerely grateful. It would seem very difficult for individuals laboring singly, and even for a body of collaborators, ii small in number, to avoid mistake in translating a writer of so extraordinarily comprehensive a range of knowledge or reference in either of the worlds; and it is believed that one of the most efficient means of securing the elimination of inaccuracy and error is by obtaining the largest co-operation of this kind on the part of the largest number of readers.

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Every suggestion of amendment, however slight, by letter or by post-card, communicated from time to time, whenever coming into mind, will be gratefully received, promptly acknowledged, seriously considered, and carefully preserved in proper order in the Society's files, for use as far as possible when the treatise to which it relates shall he reached in the progress of the revision or retranslation with which the Society is proceeding. The Committee solicits not only suggestions of inaccuracy or error in any existing translation, but also those of indistinct or infelicitous English in the Society's translations as issued. Communications may be addressed to EDITORIAL, AND PUBLICATION COMMITTEE, American Printing and Publishing Society, 3 West Twenty-ninth Street, New York City.
"CONCRETE" IN NEW CHURCH EDUCATION 1902

"CONCRETE" IN NEW CHURCH EDUCATION       LEWIS F. HITE       1902

EDITORS New Church Life.

     I have just read the article on New Church Education in the January Life. I am one of those who believe in New Church Education from bottom to top, and I have for the past fifteen or twenty years been a constant advocate of higher education in the Church by means of a fully equipped New Church University. I hold to the principle that the true New Church education must operate from above downwards. I am, therefore, in full agreement with the article both as to spirit and letter. The only question that was raised was one of practical application and definite meaning. We all agree as to the end, as to the function of parents, teachers and schools, and as to the agency of the Lord and the angels in the process of education. But the theoretical and practical questions still remain: What, precisely, do we mean by New Church education, and how practically can it be accomplished? I suppose the Academy Schools stand as the concrete answer from your point of view and from the point of view of the article. If the teachers of the Academy Schools have made the required study of the Doctrines and achieved the reconstruction of the sciences, I should be glad to know the results in the form of systematic statement and in concrete application. To be perfectly candid, as my serious purpose demands, I suspect that the real difficulty in the case, as it is with this article, is in the matter of interpretation. For example, it is easy to argue that the end of education is heaven, but heaven is a quality of life, not merely a social order in the remote future. So the end of education must be primarily and momentarily a quality of life now to be conceived and sought after. What I look for is a statement in the light of the Church of just what the quality of heaven is which we may now seek and attain, realize, express and exemplify in our present Church life.

     So, too, the end of use. The theoretical and practical questions are merely raised by saying use is the end for this world. The word "use stands for a concept that needs to be interpreted and applied in the concrete, before it can be available for practical or theoretical guidance.

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     Without detracting from the value of the article in its own kind, I merely wish to suggest to those who are serious in this matter, that the main question still confronts us. Sincerely yours, LEWIS F. HITE, Cambridge, Mass., Jan. 4, 1902.
ANOTHER VIEW 1902

ANOTHER VIEW       W. B. C       1902

EDITORS New Church Life:

     A good deal has been said lately in the periodicals and elsewhere about New Church Education and the opinion has been vouchsafed by some that our theories and ideas "in the abstract" on the subject still await an ultimation, and that the "main question" still confronts us.

     New Church Education is an interior work and its results are therefore interior and removed for the most part from the eyes of the body, and visible only to those whose minds are opened to a knowledge, understanding and perception of spiritual states; but to some of our brethren we would humbly say that a more intimate acquaintance with the accomplishment of more than twenty-five years of labor and effort on the part of earnest men in the Academy might reveal evidences of a "concrete" in New Church Education which. to say the least, would lend caution to future utterances upon the subject. W. B. C.

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Church News 1902

Church News       Various       1902

     FROM OUR CORRESPONDENTS.

     Allentown, Pa. The beginning of the year, the month of January, brought with it a series of happy incidents to our circle. On the 7th of January, in the evening, a two-fold anniversary was celebrated at the home of Mr. John Waelchli, the birthday of Mr. Waelchli falling upon the 6th and that of Miss India Waelchli upon the 7th. One by one the entire circle flocked in, to the complete surprise of the head of the house. The hours passed on in social intercourse. Toasts giving expression to the best wishes for the subjects of the festival were offered and responded to with songs and addresses.

     One week later, on the 16th, a delightful celebration took place at the house of Mr. John S. Kessler. It was the day of the 43d anniversary of the wedding of Mr. and Mrs. Kessler and the 62d birthday of Mrs. Kessler. The members of the circle again helped to heighten the pleasure of the occasion. The objects of the jubilee jointly and severally received in toasts and rhyme the good wishes of all present, and Mr. Kessler responded with an address, passing in review the 43 years of their wedded life, through whose change of seasons the golden rays of Conjugial Love, based on New Church principle, ever guided them onward.

     Then came the monthly pastoral visit of the Rev. Alfred Acton. Sunday, the 19th of January, at which the sacrament of the Holy Supper was administered.

     Last, but not least. Swedenborg's Birthday, January the 28th. This New Church anniversary was held at the home of Mr. Jacob Ebert. A delightful surprise to all the guests came in the form of a representation of Swedenborg's Summer House in the rear division of the parlor, an arrangement of the host and hostess; a morning sun radiating into the scene, the foreground beset with evergreen trees and pot plants. In this apartment two of the Ebert children opened the celebration with singing and with a dialogue fitting the occasion. They were followed by Mr. J. S. Kessler reading the first chapter in Odhner's "Swedenborg." (His childhood and youth.) Then there was read a poem by Miss Plummer, and. from the said book, a passage especially for the children. At 10 o'clock the party sat down to a supper, at which a number of toasts were offered. To observe brevity, I would mention but one, "to Allentown," which was responded to by Mr. C. D. Weirbach, who in the course of his address referred to this place as a feeder to other New Church communities, while yet, wonderful to think of. there is still an active remnant left, to prolong existence, while it is raising a group of promising offspring for the future. J. W.

     Bryn Athyn. A regular "Ladies' Aid" Society was organized on January 22d for the performance of such uses of the society as are more immediately under the domain of the gentler sex. It was decided to meet every other Wednesday afternoon. The first half hour of each meeting is devoted to the consideration of some intellectual subject, such as conversations with Mr. Synnestvedt on the subject of Education.

     On the evening of January 23d, the Bryn Athynians could be seen straggling along in rustic costume of most antiquated style, bearing tributes of potatoes turnips, poultry, etc., and heading for the home of Mr. Synnestvedt. It was an old-fashioned surprise party, purporting to celebrate the birthday of our pastor, whose age shall be left unmentioned.

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The gifts were deposited with some rustic remarks, and the reading of a very apt poem by a newly discovered poetaster on the inspiring subject of "A can of lard." We then wended our way to the club house, where the evening was spent in dancing and games. It was good to see the "old folks" forgetting care and dignity. The party was a thorough surprise to Mr. Synnestvedt,--and also to the visitors when they were informed that the birthday hid not come until a week later.

     Swedenborg's birthday was celebrated by a banquet on January 29th. Mr. Synnestvedt, as toastmaster, offered a toast to "Emanuel Swedenborg the man who dared to tell and do the Truth," which was responded to at some length by Mr. Odhner. Other toasts and speakers followed, confirming and enlarging upon the subject of "courage." Bishop Pendleton's remarks on the courage of the Lord in His combats against the hells were particularly impressive. The fifth anniversary of the inception of the General Church of the New Jerusalem was celebrated by the men of the society at a supper given in the Gymnasium of the Academy. It is understood that they had a most enthusiastic time. X.

     The Academy Schools. The first school social in the new building was held on January 27th. The large art room and the lecture room, both on the third floor, were opened for the occasion and proved to be excellently adapted for social purposes. Beside the dancing there was a programme of toasts and speeches, Alex Lindsay acting as toastmaster, and Walter Cranch and Ed. Bostock as speech makers,--this being the first "public appearance" of these young gentlemen. The social, which was finished by a "German," was successful beyond our fondest expectations.

     Glenview and Chicago. As there is not much news this month, I shall tell of some of our permanent means of edification and sociability.

     On Monday evenings eight of the young folks attend a religious instruction class at "the Manse."
Thursday afternoons the ladies meet for a weekly Literary chat; at present they are strenuously absorbed in reading Roosevelt's Winning of the West.

     Friday evenings, the "Friday Class and Supper" brings us out in full force. The Lectures since the first of the year have been on the very interesting subject of "Free Will." In fact, many become so engrossed in the subject that they immediately go home to meditate and thus desert the singing practice.

     Saturday nights the "Glenview Chess Club," which boasts of somewhat over a dozen members, meets in weekly battle for the Glenview championship.

     On Sunday evenings those of us young folks who claim to have no voices are obliged to sing for the refreshments which Mr. Seymour Nelson, our teacher, provides as an encouragement.

     A very successful dance social, presided over by Mr. and Mrs. A. E. Nelson, was held in the city on January 21st, as a farewell to Miss Centennia Bellinger, whose visit has been much enjoyed by both old and young by the latter because of the dancing class which she so kindly taught, and by the former as a matter of fact.

     Swedenborg's birthday was celebrated by a somewhat more elaborate Wednesday class than usual, in the city church. Instead of the lecture, Mr. Odhner's Life of Swedenborg was read and discussed. L. G.

     Middleport. A severe snow storm, which made walking difficult, did not prevent a full attendance at the feast of charity held on Swedenborg's birthday at the Grant homestead. The cheerfulness of the large cosy parlor was heightened by the tasteful red and white decorations, the inviting tables and the bright grate fire.

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From over the middle a picture of Swedenborg looked benignantly on the guests as though he were pleased at the happy family sphere. After a toast and song to the church Mr. Klein, the toastmaster, spoke on the personality of Swedenborg and his early preparation by the Lord for his great work. Instead of further speeches on the subject each guest read concerning some interesting event of Swedenborg's life, or an anecdote of his career. This new feature was much enjoyed and brought all into the active sphere of the meeting.

     In response to a toast to the General Church, Dr. Hanlin spoke of the great use of co-operation and showed how every one had a place to fill in the uses of the Church. Dr. S. Bradbury Hanlin produced some very interesting extracts from the early minutes of the Middleport Society. They showed how the society was a continuation of the one founded in Rutland, six mile from here, in 1839. The only surviving member of that society. Mrs. McQuigg, now in her ninetieth year, being present, Mr. Klein proposed a toast to her and to Mrs. Esther Grant: and he expressed the great privilege and pleasure it was to have among us these ladies, who affectionately bound us to the pioneer days of the Church in Ohio.

     Mr. James Boggess spoke to the toast "Our Country," dwelling on Swedenborg's service to the State as a member of the Swedish House of Nobles, and closing: with a toast to Mr. McKinley, whose birthday it was. Impromptu toasts followed, a good election of song, both serious and festive, helping to bring about a sphere of real enjoyment and affection, which made this one of the most successful feasts of charity ever held here.     D. H. K.

     Philadelphia. A successful social at the hall of worship marked the celebration of Swedenborg's birthday. There was dancing interspersed with games: also singing by our old-time "stars." During the course of the evening a toast was proposed to the Church, and another to Swedenborg, followed by an address by Mr. Cronlund, in which he impressed it upon us that we honor Swedenborg as the medium through whom the Lord made His Second Coming, and that the Writings of the New Church are this Second Coming. He also touched on the necessity of Revelations being conveyed in a dead language, as giving a firmness which a living language, on account of constant changes, could not. C. H. E.

     Pittsburg. Another of our faithful members, Mr. Faulkner, has left us to join the ever growing circle of friends in the other life. In the remarks at the memorial meeting, on January 16th, expression was given to the affection and esteem in which he was held by her friends.

     We have now a Sunday School for the instruction of those children who are unable to attend the Day School. It serves an important use, and will no doubt be of great benefit.

     We feel very grateful in having succeeded at last in establishing the "weekly supper" institution. It is held on Wednesday evenings and is followed by doctrinal class and singing practice. In the class Mr. Brown has been instructing us on the subject of worship, as to its true essence and as to its best external expressions.

     On Swedenborg's birthday the regular weekly supper gave place to one more formal and appropriate to the occasion. Toasts were offered and many interesting speeches were made by various gentlemen of the society. The meeting and eating together makes us feel more like one great family having one common love,---the love and study of the Heavenly Doctrines.

     The Ladies' Society had an unusually fine meeting this month at the home of Mrs. Ben. Fuller, in Glenfield. We spent the day there, and it was like a real old-fashioned sewing bee.

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As to the "Philosophy Club," I am not sure what they have been doing lately, as they have made the unfortunate rule not to invite the ladies.

     Berlin, Ont. The usual Christmas celebration was held in our accustomed manner on the evening of Dec. 24th. A special and pleasant feature of the occasion was the presentation of a gift from the scholars to each of the teachers in the parish school, and a purse (a complete surprise) from the society to the pastor.

     Swedenborg's birthday was celebrated with a supper and social; there was quite a large attendance, seventy-three persons being present at the supper. Addresses were made on Swedenborg's "Rules of Life," and it was shown how much there is involved in carrying out these four apparently simple rules.

     Memorial meetings were held twice during the month of December,--on Dec. 6th in memory of the Rev. H. B. Cowley, and on Dec. 6th in memory of Mr. Robert M. Glenn. The latter meeting has been considered the most useful memorial meeting ever held here. T. S. K.

     Parkdale, Ont. On Sunday, Jan. 19, Rev. J. E. Bowers preached for us. At the doctrinal class we have just concluded the study of the work on The Divine Providence and are about to take up The Apocalypse Revealed.

     Had a reaction set in after the busy time leading up to the District Assembly, nobody would have been much surprised, but it seems our friends here have made up their mind to keep things going. During January the ladies gave four Wednesday evening suppers, including the Swedenborg's birthday celebration, which as usual proved to be a very interesting occasion, toasts being honoured to the following sentiments: "The Aspirations of Youth." "The Scientist," and "The Regenerating Man." We were pleased to have with us on that occasion Mr. Richard Roschman, of Berlin, and Mr. Longstaff, from Great Falls, Montana, who was here on an extended visit to his family, having been present at the Assembly.

     Time was when socials and dances in Parkdale were a serious undertaking, as it was often found difficult to make them go, but we are happy to sap those times have gone by, and judging by the zest dismayed in some of the grand marches lately, an unbiased observer would be forced to the conclusion that some of us are about ten years younger than we were five years ago. C. B.

     London. The New Church Day School, recently opened in London by Rev. Andrew Czerny, is being conducted at Longfield Hall, corner of Burton and Knatchbull Roads. There are at present fifteen children in the School, six boys and nine girls, the younger ones being taught by the efficient lady-teacher, Miss Bedwell. The Sunday services of the friends of the General Church are still being held in private houses, but efforts are being made to secure a place for public worship.

     Mr. Bowers' Missionary Work.

     I spent two days with Mr. Robert G. Brown and family, near Streetsville, Ontario. A pleasant visit, as usual.

     Services were held in Hamilton, Ont., on Sunday, February 2d. A sermon was delivered. Three adults were baptized and the sacrament of the Lord's Supper was administered to thirteen persons. A snowstorm prevented the attendance of several who live a few miles away from the place of meeting,-the house of Mrs. Brierley. The services seemed to be much appreciated by those who were present.

     Two days were spent in London, Ont. All the believers in the New Church we know of in that city,-seven persons,--were called on. No meetings have been held by them, or by a minister of the Church, for several years.

     I next spent three days at Mull, Kent county, Ont., with Mr. Thomas Woofenden and family.

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At our little meeting, Sunday, February 9th, an infant was baptized. About eighteen years ago the writer baptized Mr. and Mrs. Woofenden and seven children: At different times since then he has baptized nineteen grand-children,--in all twenty-eight persons, in the Woofenden family. The missionary visits to those friends have always been useful and pleasant. Mull is a small village sixty miles from Detroit, Michigan. JOHN E. BOWERS.

FROM OUR CONTEMPORARIES.

     THE UNITED STATES. The Rev. Henry Clinton Hay, of Brockton, has accepted the call of the Boston Society to become its associate pastor. He will enter upon his new duties by April 1st, if not at an earlier date.

     The New York Mail and Express for January 25th contains an exhaustive, interesting and highly appreciative account of "Rev. Julian K. Smyth and the Church of the New Jerusalem" in New York. The picture of "Swedenborgians" which is drawn presents them rather as they ought to be than as they generally are. The reporter seems to have been especially impressed with the profound and learned mysticism of what he heard from the eloquent preacher. But what would he have said had he heard the Rev. Adolph Roeder's lectures on "the Symbol-Psychology of Wagner's Nibelungen Ring," "Biology, the Consciousness of Control of Larger Powers," "Babism, or Behaism, the upward movement of the mass mind," "Psychism," and other "Movements in the Mental World?" The brain reels at the contemplation of such dizzy heights of Abstrusism and glossarial Affectationology.

     The Rev. Benjamin D. Palmer, for many years pastor of the society in Paterson, N. J., died suddenly at Poughkeepsie, N. Y., on December 17, in the 79th year of his age. Mr. Palmer was ordained by Rev. Chauncey Giles in 1882, and was engaged in the missionary work of the New York Association until 1886, when he took charge of the Paterson Society. He was a quiet, studious minister and took but little part in the more general work of the Church.

     The Rev. A. R. Dolly has removed from Harrisburg to Lancaster, Pa., in order to devote his entire attention to the society in the latter place.

     At the annual meeting of the Philadelphia First Society a membership of 444 was reported, showing a net gain of one member during the year. The Rev. W. L. Worcester in his pastoral report stated that "the additions to our members [during the last seventeen years] have been almost wholly from our young people growing up in our Sunday School,...and there have been few additions from outside." This seems to be a rather remarkable experience for a church so devoted to missionary work and o indifferent to distinctive New Church Education as the Philadelphia First Society. If the work in the Sunday School has borne these good fruits, what would Eighteen--Church Life the harvest have been if the children of the four hundred members had been educated in a New Church Day School? It is fair to surmise that in this case the net gain for the past year would have been more than "one member."

     It is announced that the meetings of the General Convention will be held at Philadelphia (Chestnut Street), on May 27th and following days.

     Various reports have been published as to the prospects of the New Church in Wilmington, Del. According to the latest account "the religious condition of the community about us is such that there is not much encouragement for us. An orthodox minister said to a lady, once a Friend, now favorably disposed towards the New Church: 'the Quakers are dead, the Swedenborgians are dead, and the Unitarians are dying." We believe that is how the other Churches think of us here. The orthodox clergy foster the long-standing prejudice against us by every means in their power, and only a few strangers come in to our worship."

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     The society at Lakewood, O., (near Cleveland), has engaged the services of the Rev. James Taylor, lately of Baltimore.

     The Cleveland Society, on January 8th, received eleven new members, most of whom had recently become converts to the Heavenly Doctrines.

     The Urbana University rejoices in a recent contribution of $500 for the girls' dormitory fund, the result of incessant appeals in the Messenger. It is painful to see an ancient educational institution in the Church going a-begging in terms such as these: "Come, brethren, the hall is rolling, and we must keep it rolling." etc. The constant dropping of water will wear away a stone, and it may be hoped that the Urbana University by constant appeals will finally make some impression upon the New Church.

     The Council of Ministers of the Illinois Association met at Chicago on January 7th The Rev. E. J. E. Schreck read a paper on "The Relation of the Works of Swedenborg to the Word." Five-minute addresses were delivered by other ministers on the subject of "The Church," its constituency, whereabouts and requisites, the Church Universal, and the Church Specific.

     Swedenborg's birthday was celebrated by the members of the Kenwood parish on January 29th. The hall was appropriately decorated, and after supper, to which old and young did ample justice, the pastor (Mr. Schreck) made an informal address, more especially for the benefit of the young, on Swedenborg's life and mission. Then the "Swedenborg's Birthday Song" was sung. Mrs. Fake gave a graphic account of her visit to Swedenborg's home, and the older children recited Swedenborg's Rules of Life, while the little ones recited his motto.

     The work on Conjugial Love is being read and discussed by the society in Denver, Cole., to which the Rev. J. E. Collom is ministering. Half of the attendants are not members but friends of the society. One of the oldest members, Mr. Peter Magnes, a few months ago gave a lot for a chapel to a Methodist church in Petersburg, a suburb of Denver. Feeling under some obligations to him, the Methodists opened their doors to his pastor, Mr. Collom, for services of the New Jerusalem. The situation seems somewhat mixed!

     The First New Church Society of San Francisco is prospering under the ministry of Rev. Andrew Parsons who was ordained at the meeting of the General Convention in June last. The congregation averages between fifty and sixty. The debt of the society has been wiped out, a Thursday evening reading class has been instituted, and the Free Library and Reading Room is being put into shape. An effort is being made to reopen the Sunday School which had been discontinued for some time, but the society finds itself hampered by many adverse influences, such as "Christian Science" and "even the higher education in the universities near us," which "counts New Church teachings mystical and impractical, and does not acknowledge that which we regard as our chief cornerstone, the Divine Humanity of our Lord." At the Christmas celebration, sixty "individual communion cups" were presented to the society by a new member, for which a vote of thanks were tendered him. The introduction of "individual communion cups" into the celebration of the Sacrament in the New Church does not impress us pleasantly. The Holy Supper should be representative throughout. The common cup represents the common Word out of which the members of the Church receive the wine of spiritual doctrine. Hence, at the feasts of charity of the Ancients, "conjunction itself was represented by breaking the bread and distributing it, and by drinking from the same cup and handing it to one another." (T. C. R. 433.)

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     GREAT BRITAIN. The North of England Missionary Society held its annual meeting at Manchester on December 17th. Judging from the reports, the plan of operations seems to be to examine into some religious work of the Old Church, and, having hit upon some leading falsity, to write to the author expressing appreciation of the work, etc., but pointing out the falsity and suggesting the reading of some New Church book or tract which is forwarded with the letter. The replies are not, in general, encouraging.

     One of the committees of the Society has published several New Church works in Braille-writing for the blind. Among these we notice The New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Doctrines, 2 vols.; Intercourse between, the Soul and Body, and The Doctrine of Charity, 2 vols. These works are either loaned free, or sold to the blind.

     The Rev. A. F. Ferguson, who has served for the last two years as minister of the Besses Society, has terminated his engagement with that Society. The New Church Magazine is informed that Mr. Ferguson is "desirous of returning into the communion with which he was formerly associated."

     SWEDEN. The Rev. J. E. Rosenquist, of Gottenburg, on January 9th delivered a public lecture on "The relation of Emanuel Swedenborg to Infidelity and Spiritism." A reporter in a daily paper says many silly things about Swedenborg and about the personal appearance of "the elegant lecturer," but hints darkly that "Swedenborg undoubtedly has been misunderstood in many points by his own followers, nay, perhaps even by Rev. J. E. Rosenquist, who clearly belongs among the most orthodox within the New Church, as they call their denomination."

     We hear from Mr. Rosenquist that Swedenborg's birthday was celebrated socially by the young people of his society. There was a toast to the memory of Swedenborg, and the friends united in singing "Thou Prophet and Seer," in Pastor Manby's beautiful Swedish version of the song. While Count von Snoilsky's poem, "In Swedenborg's Garden," was being recited, a very pretty tableau was given, representing Swedenborg in the act of "showing an angel" to an inquisitive little girl, by leading her up to a looking-glass. Mr. Rosenquist adds: "I believe this is the first social of this kind among the New Church Young People here in Sweden since the days of the Immanuel League,"--a society of young men among Pastor Boyesen's people in Stockholm. It was started by C. Th. Odhner, C. Hj. Asphlundh, and J. E. Rosenquist, in 1879, and flourished greatly and joyfully for a few rears. One of the great events in the as yet unwritten history of that society was the advent, in January, 1881, of the first number of a small young people's journal from America, the New Church Life. How we struggled with the English dictionary to decipher the mysteries of Life, and to learn about the doings of the young folks in that grand Republic where, we believed, the New Church was already established in its glory! But space forbids further reminiscences.

     HUNGARY. Herren Karl Albrecht, Emanuel Peisker and Franz Krupka publish "An Appeal for Budapest" in the Messenger for February 5th. It appears that the New Church society in the capital of Hungary, after thirty-four years of activity, finds itself at present in a situation of unusual difficulty. The services thus far have been conducted almost entirely in the German tongue. But now, owing to the outbreak of the race-hatreds in the Austro-Hungarian Empire (so graphically told by Mark Twain), our New Church brethren no longer dare to continue the German services, for fear of the Magyar students, who not only have been making "demonstrations, but also threaten to "smash up" everything Teutonic in the city.

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Under these circumstances, discretion is indeed the better part of valor, and so it "becomes necessary to translate prayers, songs, tracts and sermons into Hungarian for the purpose of worship." The situation may seem humorous to Americans, whose seriousness has been ruined by Mr. Clement, but it threatens actual danger to our brethren in Budapest who stand face to face with the violent passions of eastern races. If, therefore, any one of our readers feels disposed to assist a struggling, but worthy, society,--the eastern-most outpost of the New Church in Europe, he will perform a use by sending his contributions to Herr Karl Albrecht, IV., Schiffsgasse 6, Budapest, Austria.

     AFRICA. So far as we know there have never been any translations of the Writings into any of the African dialects. But now, it seems, a beginning, a very modest one, it is true, has been made. It is the work of a native African missionary of Nigeria, who having received and read one of the minor works posted to him from Manchester asked for other works by Swedenborg. He became so interested that he translated "The Faith," (T. C. R. 3), and "The three essentials of the Church," (D. P. 259 end), into Nupe--a language of Nigeria. We copy from the N. C. Magazine the Nupe translation of the "Three Essentials," peculiar accents and superimposed numerals are omitted by our contemporary:

     "Enyan eti-eti guta danbo nya Masalaci yi, yiye ndo nya COCI SOKO un yis, yiye ndo nya lilici nya Egan ga to rai na yi cici."

     Further particulars and developments will be awaited with interest.
EMANUEL SWEDENBORG, THE MAN WHO DARED TO TELL AND DO THE TRUTH 1902

EMANUEL SWEDENBORG, THE MAN WHO DARED TO TELL AND DO THE TRUTH       Rev. C. TH. ODHNER       1902


Announcements.



     
     NEW CHURCH LIFE.
Vol. XXII.          APRIL, 1902.          no. 4.
     In considering Emanuel Swedenborg as a man of courage, as a man who "dared to tell and do," it is well to call to mind the ideals of courage which he had set before himself, and which he explains at length in two luminous chapters in the work On the Soul.

     "Genuine courage," he tells us, "is never united to the love of self, but is the inseparable companion of the love of the many, thus, of society, and it increases with the increase of this love." "He who loves himself above others, fears more for his own safety than for the safety of others." "He is without reason who prefers the life of his body to the life of his fame, or to honesty, virtue, society, and the human race." "The most despicable and the lowest of all mortal': is he who fears nothing for the Truth, for sacred things, for Heaven and the Deity, but only for himself." "Souls that are sublime and elevated above mortal things, do not fear to undergo death for the Truth, especially for heavenly and Divine Truth, because they are fearful for the Truth and dread its extinction." (Nos. 294-297).

     Paradoxical though it may seem, courage is always based on fear. For "every love has its own fear," and "the fear for the loss of a superior love renders bold the inferior love" (n. 274). The love of one's own life, the instinct of self-preservation, becomes bold and self-forgetful in the defense of wife and children. The love of one's own family offers itself as a willing victim upon the altars of patriotism and philanthropy, and, finally, the love of everything earthly and finite can be made to sacrifice itself for the sake of the love of Divine Truth, that is, the love of God.

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     Such were Swedenborg's ideals on the subject of courage, as formed and expressed before Heaven had been opened to him. They are only his own human sentiments, but they none the less express the most sublime conceptions of manly courage that human tongue has ever uttered. A hero, indeed, is he who lives up to such ideals.

     He shows, further, that there are many kinds and degrees of courage, and that "genuine bravery shows itself more evidently and more boldly in the degree or proportion that the cause [for courage] is regarded as greater, superior, and more universal." (Ibid. 246.) The lowest degree is the physical courage which in itself is merely animal, depending chiefly upon hereditary tendencies and upon the conditions of the blood, the nerves, the membranes and the muscles. Next superior to this is moral courage, the bravery of the man who in the pursuit of virtue dares to face the contempt and ridicule of popular prejudice and vice. These two kinds of courage may exist independent of one another. One man may be brave as a lion in battle, and yet shrink in craven fear at the thought of giving up a single pleasure of sensual indulgence. Another man may tremble at the thought of physical pain, yet fear still more to defile himself by secret crime.

     But both the physical and the moral hero are essentially cowards if the love of self is the mainspring of their courage, if the love of Truth is absent from their inmost motives. Natural courage, both physical or moral, is not uncommon in the world, but how many are there who dare to think and tell the truth? Our civilized world is full of lies, of false ideas and sentiments, of conventional prevarications and well established shams. What is more rude, more shocking and unpopular than to tell the truth, to say just what we think about all the great or petty falsehoods we encounter every day?

     But before we can tell the truth to men, we must know the truth, and before we can know it, we must seek for it. And to seek for the truth requires more than moral fortitude; it requires spiritual courage.

     To the majority of mankind "the faith once delivered unto our fathers" is the only safe refuse for the spirit. Beyond the ancient creeds and dogmas, beyond the common worm-eaten and rotten conceptions of truth, there lies a dreaded unknown, forbidden by hoary anathemas and lighted only by promises of hell-fire.

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In view of these terrors, or of the still more potent "fear of the Jews," how many are there in the world who dare to unfasten their moorings in order to venture forth upon the search for spiritual Truth?

     And even on the elevated plane of spiritual courage we will find a great variety of kinds and degrees of daring. There is, for instance, the man who has dared to seek for the truth, and, when found, has dared to acknowledge it to himself in spite of the wounds which the truth must necessarily have inflicted upon his self-intelligence and amour propre. And yet the courage of this man may fail him when it comes to the point of acknowledging his Master openly before men. Like Nicodemus, he dares to come to Jesus only by night. Like Peter, he would deny his Lord when confronted by possible danger. What is he but a cowardly thief who, secretly stealing the Light, parades it as his own before a world that would instantly reject it if its source were known?

     And again, there are those who, indeed, have summoned up sufficient courage to acknowledge themselves as disciples of the Truth, but who nevertheless are ever trying to minimize the complete Divinity and the absolute distinctiveness of the Light which they have received. They may, indeed, take a great intellectual pleasure in the "beautiful truths" of a new Revelation, but they are ever fearful of offending the powers of darkness. There is still reigning within them the love of the world and the fear of losing its esteem and distinctions, but if they repent not and be brave and loyal fighters under the Divine banner, the Truth will depart from their midst.

     But even though they be ready to suffer every species of torture and martyrdom for the Truth,--though they be willing to live for it, and fight for it, and die for it, yet they may be doing all this from some secret spring of self-love, even as some of the early Christian martyrs did. The real test of spiritual courage lies, after all, not in the telling of the truth, but in the doing it, in the daily and loyal obedience to it in the shunning of evil. There can be no doing of the truth without the telling of it, but it is always possible to tell it, even to its utmost extent, without doing it. Deeply lurking within all the words of the teller of truth, there may be any amount of pride and self-conceit and the most cowardly fear of meeting the devil of self love in spiritual temptation-combats.

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Though he may appear, to himself and to others, as a most valiant champion of the Truth, if he does not summon up courage in this life to fight his secret personal evils, he will finally appear in the other world as the naked, shivering, fearful slave which the love of self makes of heaven-born man.

     Now, to return to our immediate subject, it seems to us, as far as it is possible for man to judge, that Emanuel Swedenborg; stands in history as the instance of a man who possessed every kind and degree of courage, as a man who in every respect "dared to tell and do the Truth."

     As to his merely physical courage there is but little to tell, for he lived in the world of intellect more than in the world of material force. Nevertheless, there is no reason to doubt but that he was a brave man even on the lowest natural plane. We know, for instance that it was his ardent desire, while a young man, to follow his heroic king, Charles XII., on his last, desperate campaign into Norway. And in his Itinerary he tells us that he was at various times in danger of his life. On his first foreign journey he was chased by pirates and by an English man-'o-war, and on arriving prematurely in London, in ignorance of certain laws of quarantine, he was with difficulty saved from the gallows Later in life, while in Italy, he had an unpleasant experience with the stiletto of a bandit "veturino." The matter-of-fact way in which he speaks of these things shows that he paid but little attention to merely physical dangers. Moreover, he came of a race which is eminent in history for manly courage. He was frankly proud of being a Swede, and he says in this connection: "intrepidity, which is an attribute of fortitude, is not acquired, but is inborn. Hence it appertains to a race, and descends to a remote posterity, for the brave beget the brave; it is often a trait belonging naturally to a whole nation." (De Anima, 248.)

     Upon the natural-moral courage of Swedenborg we need not dwell at length. As is well known, he stands in this respect above the slightest shadow of reproach. This is so much the more to his credit, as the nation to which he belonged is not especially famous for temperance and continence. His father also, though a God-fearing and virtuous man, was at the same time a man of strong passions. Swedenborg had his full share of hereditary inclinations to fight against, and if you wish to witness his moral temptations, combats, and victories, read the Book of Dreams.

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     It is not, however, as a natural hero that we would hold up Swedenborg for admiration, but as a man of extraordinary spiritual courage,--as the man who dared to seek the truth, and, when found, dared to confess it before the whole world, and, when told, dared to do it.

     From his early youth Swedenborg was a most ardent seeker for light. His scientific works breathe the most passionate longing for the Truth,--truth scientific, civil, moral, philosophical and Divine. It was the truth that he sought for in the depths of the mines and in the heights of the starry heavens, in the mysteries of the human structure and in the secret workings of the human mind. And he sought for the truth not merely for the sake of intellectual gratification, but for the sake of approaching ever nearer to the Divine Master who was preparing him and calling him to the most universal use, to the most glorious but at the same time most dangerous mission that could be given to a man.

     Swedenborg's courage in the pursuit of truth appears the more sublime when we consider the times and the conditions in which he lived. As step by step he came into greater light, he was startled by the contrast of the light with the prevailing darkness of the world. Further and further he departed from the old prejudices, conceptions, creeds and dogmas in which he and all the rest of Christians had been brought: up. A lonely wanderer was he, with not a soul to appreciate or sympathize with his aspirations and discoveries in the realm of Truth. And when the light of Heaven itself broke in upon him, there was a period of several years (1743-1747), during which he suffered and fought alone in the most intense temptations.

     Imagine this well-born, well-bred, well-connected man, this man of universal genius and learning, this equal of a Newton, a Leibnitz or a Wolf, to whom a most magnificent career stood open in the political and the scientific worlds! What gain, what honors, what immortal fame he could have achieved had he but chosen! All this he stood to lose, and was well aware that he would inevitably lose, were he to follow the light and the voice that were calling him on into an unknown world. And not only would he lose all this, but as a man of experience he knew perfectly well that in this life he could expect nothing but world-wide incredulity, ridicule, contemptuous pity, the hatred of orthodox theologians, the reputation of an impostor, an arch heretic, or a madman.

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     To these things, however, he paid but little attention. They were of the earth earthly and were as nothing to this "rich young man" who did not hesitate for an instance to sell all that he had, in order to follow his Lord. But there were other and deeper things to try his courage and his faith, dangers and terrors to his soul, such as no other man before him had ever been called upon to meet,-the fearful dangers connected with open communication with the spiritual world, where legions of wicked spirits, satans and demons were waiting to rush upon him, were plotting in deadly hatred to destroy his mind and drag his soul to hell.

     On the whole, Swedenborg tells us but little of his personal dangers and sufferings during his long journeys of exploration through the hells, and of his own courage he speaks not a single word. But here and there, in the Writings, we catch glimpses of his experiences and of the boundless hatred and fury which the followers of the Dragon centered upon him.

     Thus, he tells us, satans would rush against him, crying out in vehemence: "Are you the man who thinks and speaks about order?" "Are you the man who has circumscribed God with laws?" "Are you the man who wants to seduce the world by establishing a New Church?" (Influx, 71, 74; C. L., 82.) And at a grand council of ecclesiastics in the other world, the president thus voiced the sentiments of the company: " Oh, my brethren, what an age! There has risen up one from among the herd of the laity a man having neither gown, tiara or laurel, who has pulled down our faith from heaven and has cast it into Styx. Oh, horrible! That man, although advanced in years, is entirely blind in respect to the mysteries of our faith," etc., etc. (T. C. R., 137.) And Swedenborg tells us that "when the Doctrine of the Lord was being written, there were present many of those who are in faith alone, and they were in such a fury that I would hardly have been able to write unless I had been guarded by the Lord through an angel, and it seemed as if they were trying to tear it up and deface it." (L. J. Post, 186.)

     Such were some of his mildest experiences in a world where the fires of "odium theologicum" were still burning as luridly as they did on earth during the Dark Ages.

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It is conceivable, therefore, that those who foresaw their judgment and destruction in the announcement of the Heavenly Doctrine of the New Jerusalem would not content themselves by words of condemnation only, but would soon proceed to violent measures against the one who carried the dreaded message. Thus, we read, that on various occasions they threw candlesticks and Bibles against him, and tried to stone him. (C. L., 232; T. C. R., 161; A. R., 484) Often, while he was asleep in his bed, they plotted to strangle him, to cut his throat, or to choke him by their suffocating breath (A. C., 824, 1270; S. D., 3653), or they would surround him with nightmares and phantastic visions so horrible as nearly to destroy his reason (S. D., 1933). At one time a personal enemy inspired him with an almost uncontrollable desire to commit suicide, so that, in fear of his life, he had to hide his knife in a desk. (S. D., 4530). Once a spirit wanted to give him something to drink out of a pitcher. "It contained that which from phantasy took away the understanding from those who drank. It was told me who he was. (A. C., 5567).

     By contact with innumerable varieties and species of evil spirits, he was very frequently compelled to experience excruciating pains in the various parts of the body to which these spirits corresponded in the grand monster of hell. Only thus could he gain a practical knowledge of their wickedness, but this knowledge was bought at a price which few would care to pay. The nature of one class of spirits would be disclosed by their inducing upon him violent toothaches; others would cause horrible nausea such as to induce swooning; he experienced burning fevers of various kinds, and intolerable pains in this or that part of the body, so that, in one passage, he exclaims, "I doubt whether others could have endured it, on account of the pain, but, having become accustomed to it, I at last bore it often without pain." (A. C., 5180.) Talk about the horrors of vivisection! Here was a man who, in the quest of knowledge for the spiritual benefit of mankind, offered his own mind and body to be experimented upon by every kind of devil in hell. Truly, he was a man of courage.

     The tale of horror could be continued almost indefinitely, but we will relate but a few of his experiences. Once, for instance, a spirit came up to him stealthily from behind and plunged his dagger into him.

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"I felt as it were a stroke through the heart, and immediately afterwards another in the brain, such as easily would have killed a man. But, being protected by the Lord, I feared nothing." (A. C., 816.) He "feared nothing," indeed, but none the less he had experienced the agony of the death-stroke. On another occasion, he tells us, "I was suddenly seized with a disease almost mortal; my whole head was weighed down heavily; a pestilential smoke ascended from the Jerusalem which is called Sodom and Egypt. I was half dead with severe pain; I expected the end. I lay thus in my bed for three days and a half. It was my spirit that was thus affected, and from it my body. And then I heard around me voices saying: 'Lo, he who preached repentance for the remission of sins, and the man Christ alone, lies dead in the street of our city.' And they asked some of he clergy whether he was worthy of burial, and they said that he was not: 'Let him lie; let him be mocked at.' They passed to and fro, and mocked." (A. R., 531; comp. S. D., 6108.)

     We have here a tragical scene of martyrdom which brings to our mind the fate of Huss or Savonarola. But Swedenborg's sufferings were not only physical, but also, and especially, spiritual. It was his spirit that was infested and tormented,--his understanding and affections, his faith and his love of God. He suffered tortures such as we cannot possibly comprehend until we ourselves shall have entered the spiritual world. He suffered, but nevertheless his love and faith were never shaken, for he knew he was protected. Of this protection he speaks continually, as in the following instances:

     "I was infested during the whole night, so that the spirits began to despair as to whether I could be delivered. They said that I had been protected by the Lord during the whole night." (S. D. 3571).

     "The devil call do no harm to those whom the Lord protects, as it has been granted me to know from much astonishing experience, so that at last I have no fear even of the worst of the infernal crew." (A. C. 968.)

     "If evil spirits could perceive that they were associated with a man,...and if they could flow-in into the things of his body, they would attempt by a thousand means to destroy him, for they hate man with a deadly hatred. Knowing, therefore, that I was a man in the world, they were continually striving to destroy me, not as to the body only, but especially as to the soul; . . . but I have been continually protected by the Lord. Hence it appears how dangerous it is for man to be in living company with spirits." (A. C. 5863.)

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     "Unless the Lord defended man every moment,...he would instantly perish, in consequence of the indescribably intense and mortal hatred which prevails in the world of spirits against the things of love and faith towards the Lord. The certainty of this I can affirm, having now for some years,--notwithstanding my remaining in the body,--been associated with spirits in the other world, even with the worst of them, and I have sometimes been surrounded by thousands of them, to whom it was permitted to pour forth their venom and to infest me in every possible way, yet Without their being able to hurt the least hair of my body, so well protected have I been by the Lord." (A. C. 59)

     How simple and how grand sound these confident words: " have been protected by the Lord." But what a sublime courage the man had, to believe so implicitly in the Divine Protection as to dare to wade through the hoods of death and of hell. The Lord had, indeed, revealed Himself to Swedenborg in Person, but the protection extended to him was by an invisible presence, according to the universal laws of the Divine Providence The fact is that we are one and all especially protected by the Lord, but we do not all believe and trust in this immediate presence and protection with the childlike confidence of Swedenborg. This confidence was the mainspring, the real essence of his marvelous spiritual courage, and this confidence is the real source of all genuine courage, intrepidity, fortitude and manliness. Without faith in the Lord there is everything to fear, but with the Lord we need fear nothing.

     Swedenborg himself was but a man, the first in time of all New Church men, the first of a new race of men who in the Lord's name are to enter into possession of this earth. These men need to be valiant, indeed, for He who has called them has not come to them with promises of peace in this life. He has come to place a sword in their hands. He has called them to a life of incessant warfare, to fight for His Truth, His Church, and His Heaven. His enemies are to be their enemies, and behold, their name is "Legio." They are as many as there are evils and falsities in the world, as many as there are satans and devils in Hell. The evil spirits who sought to destroy Swedenborg are conspiring to destroy every man and woman of the New Church. Nor need we go far to find them, for they are lurking in every thought and affection of our own proprium. But we need not fear. Swedenborg, our brother, was protected, and we also have been and will be protected, for the universal dominion of the hells has been broken by Him, "the Hero," who Alone, in His human, met and fought and triumphed over them all.

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He broke the way to victory, and we need but follow Him, looking to His banner and obeying His command. There really is nothing to fear if we walk with Him. The men of the New Church, therefore, above all others, have cause to be brave, to have spiritual courage, to dare to tell and do the truth.
"BEARING OUR INIQUITIES." 1902

"BEARING OUR INIQUITIES."       Rev. HOMER SYNNESTVEDT       1902

     AN EASTER ADDRESS

     There is no such thing as a vicarious redemption. The Prophets, indeed, suffered many things in order that, as it was said, they might "bear the iniquity of the people," but this was only to show the people what was needed to save themselves: it did not make the people one whit better unless they took the lesson and repented in sackcloth and ashes. So was it with the Greatest Prophet. He was, indeed, the Lamb of God who taketh away the sin of the world, yet not without the co-operation of man. If it were possible to impute to others the merit of the Lord's sufferings without the necessity of their own repentance and the struggle necessary to regeneration, then indeed would all men be saved without exception. For the Lord came to save all, and the limiting of this salvation to those who profess faith in His merit, (without regard to the life they have lived), or to those who are foreordained, would indeed be arbitrary and contrary to the Divine Mercy. The sins of the people of Israel were laid upon the head of the scapegoat who was then sent away into the desert. To what extent this made the people better in their lives, except as they took to heart the lesson it taught, most Christians can see. And yet, since the Nicene Council, the same folly spread in the Christian world also, until the Lord Himself in His Human was made a mere scapegoat for the evils of men, and Christians openly avow that they are cleansed and washed from all sin if only they profess faith in Him.

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That this is a deadly error, the New Church knows, yet, strange to say, the same thing now appears in another form in the New Church also, for it is now being taught that, owing to the Last Judgment and the redemption effected then, all men are being made New Church, and that the definite acknowledgment of the Lord in His second coming, with the temptation-combats and consequent rooting out of evils which come only to those who have this truth, are not necessary. But let us not deceive ourselves. The Lord did indeed again and finally perform a general judgment, and wrought a redemption for all men, but it is as necessary now as it ever was for each one to do his part, to take up his cross, if he wishes to follow Him. We must know the truth and then crucify the flesh in order that the truth may prevail in us, or we cannot follow Him and enter into the fruits of His redemption. It is never of His will or Providence to withhold it from anyone. It is only by a deliberate and confirmed refusal on our part to take the temporary trouble and pain of our particular cross, that we can yet frustrate His beneficent designs and cling to death rather than to life. He offers us this day which we will have, death, or life. But it is only he who is willing to lose his own life that can receive the life of heaven. Thus it is only through death that true life can be reached, even as the Lord reached it through the sepulcher. We must co-operate with the Lord in the work of redemption; we must crucify the flesh; we must put down the life of the proprium even until it suffers a death, before we can enter into life eternal "Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from henceforth. Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors, and their works do follow with them." We do not, therefore, join with the world in celebrating on this day any vicarious atonement, nor do we believe that the work of redemption, completed on Easter morning, paid our debts for us or suffices to render us blameless before God without any change in our own lives. Yet this day is to us a day of blessing, for upon this day the Church celebrates the crowning blessing of her Lord and Savior, Who in his Divine mercy and compassion, did bow the heavens and come down--did take upon Himself our iniquities and was bruised for our transgressions, since if He had not done this, the way would not have been open for us to follow him.

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On Christmas Day it was our blessed privilege to celebrate the beginning of this pivotal work, when the Almighty God, the Creator of the universe, the Divine Father of all creation, came down and took upon Himself a human body, with all its infirmities derived from the race of mortals through the body of the virgin mother, Mary, who represents the Church. Through her He took upon Himself all the infirmities of our fallen race, the accumulated evils of ages of transgression. This was the beginning of the great work of Redemption, which is destined in the end to restore the race to its pristine integrity. The completion of this work, as far as this human is concerned, was accomplished only by His death upon the cross. Truly, He died for us, and in His wounding a ransom was wrought for us all. In Him we all died, and in Him are we all raised up again on the third day, as the Apostles taught. If He had not suffered and risen again, we should all have died in our sins, for otherwise He could not have met the Hells in single combat, could not have overcome them and reduced them into order and under obedience to eternity; thus neither could He have instituted a new Heaven, and a new Church. As it is written in the Prophet Isaiah: "He hath taken our sicknesses, and borne our pains. He was wounded for our transgressions; He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and with His wound are we healed. The Lord hath laid upon Him the iniquities of us all."

     Thus is it written in the prophet; and the Divine voice which spoke these words into the ear of Isaiah, which brought comfort and hope to a darkened world long weary of the long watching for the morning, at the same time thrilled all the heavens with its mighty forebodings. For the Word upon earth is but the shadow of the substantial Word in heaven, where all the heavenly hosts are gathered before Him in the full sunshine of His truth. For as the Sun shineth in his strength, so is the Glory of the Son of Man who sitteth at the right hand of power and giveth light and judgment to all His creatures. Before Him, the Church in Heaven and the Church upon earth make a one. In the heavenly abodes dwell all the countless myriads of busy happy men and women who have ever been born since the foundation of the world, and who, by a life of useful activity here, have prepared themselves to share in the work and the joy of their Creator.

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In comparison with these, the men who live upon earth now are but the merest handful. And yet, the very existence of the Heavens in a state of integrity depends upon the handful here, and especially upon the continuity of that handful in a state of integrity, by successive generations and regenerations. For here alone can new human creatures be born, and here alone can they be re-born. Consequently, upon what transpires here depends the hope, the future, the extension of heaven, and without these prospects there is no joy in any work. Take away the idea of any future, of any extension, or, at least, the hope of these, and what delight would there be in any work? And so, when the darkness of increasing falsity from evil came up over the whole world, and threatened the total extinction of all heavenly life, and thus of the heavenly hope and joy: when it seemed as ii the infernal crew were gaining the mastery over the armies of the Lord, He rallied their hope, and restored their courage by the prophecy concerning His Coming.

     If these words were full of comfort to the few anxious watchers upon earth, how much more so to the great hosts whose whole souls are all alive to the importance of the great conflict of the ages,--the battle of God with the Powers of Death?

     So much for the prophecy, renewed from time to time. But "hope deferred, maketh the heart sick." The infernal crew, though checked from time to time by these rallies, whenever a new prophet or a new deliverer was raised up upon earth, still continued to gain ground. They rose up and filled the whole world of spirits, and thence began to invade the very borders of heaven itself. At last the fullness of time arrived, and the Great King girded Himself with His invincible might, and went forth with his armies to conquer and to save. But such was the power of the Hells, and such was the weakness of mortals, even the best of them, that they could do nothing. So gigantic were the leading evils and falsities, that no one of mere human stature could stand before them. It was like Goliath of old, who was so huge that he could crush any enemy with a single blow, while his own massive armor seemed impenetrable. But, like David of old, a Champion was found who could go forth and meet this monster in single combat,--and this time it was none other than the great Hero Himself.

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Omnipotence alone could now avail against the great leviathan, and as He had predicted,--for it was He Himself who had spoken the words of hope and of prophecy before,--when the time came He found Himself alone. He looked, and there was none to help Him. Therefore, His own arm brought salvation, and He trod the winepress alone.

     To meet the hells at all, it was necessary that He afford them a plane of influx, and the infirmities of the Human which He took on gave them their chance. They took it,--and there was not a devil, not a satan, or a hell that did not inflow and assault Him, endeavoring, as is their wont, to ensnare Him and make Him yield to them. He thus suffered a constant series of temptations even from His infancy to the last hour upon the cross, when their final fury vented itself in one last grand struggle to separate the Human from the Divine, even so that He was constrained to cry out in His agony, "My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken Me?" But that was the end. In vain did the nations rage. In destroying His body, they attained the limit of their futile rage, and when, after three days, He rose again, it was together with and in a Glorified Human, purged from its infirmities, and made Divine. He led captivity captive--the good in the lower earth were led out. The hells were reduced into order and under obedience to Him. "Oh Grave, where is thy victory, Oh Death, where is thy sting?" For now the everlasting gates lifted up their heads, were open to receive Him. Triumphant over death, over sin and hell, He returned upon high whence He came; but now He brought with Him all the souls of the slain,--all whom the violence of the hells had condemned to bondage and a living death,--all who had not received the mark of the Beast upon their forehead or upon their hand.

     The gates of Heaven, opened by Him, stand ever open to all who choose to follow Him,-while the gates of hell are forever closed, except to those who insist and persist in their evil ways. Their power over the good is totally gone,--it is only against the deliberately evil that they have any power now. As we, therefore, bow this day before Him in gratitude for this His Redemption, which was finally completed at His second coming, and as we draw near to His holy table to eat and drink in communion with His angels and in remembrance of Him, let us take to heart the lesson which He taught us by all His sufferings and temptations. "Jesus said, if anyone will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me." Amen.

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SALVATION 1902

SALVATION       EVELYN E. PLUMMER       1902

A HYMN.

Salvation the arm of the Lord hath wrought,
     He trod the winepress of wrath alone;

The people no help in their weakness brought,
     When hosts of hell assailed His throne.

From heavenly courts their legions He hurled,
     And led His long-waiting armies in;
Salvation He brought to this outer world,
     And conquered sorrow, death and sin.

Ye heavens, give praise to the Lord, give praise;
     O earth, in gladness uplift your voice!
To Him, our Redeemer, glad anthems raise!
     In Him let earth and heaven rejoice.

-EVELYN E. PLUMMER.

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HISTORY OF THE NEW CHURCH IN CANADA 1902

HISTORY OF THE NEW CHURCH IN CANADA       Rev. F. E. WAELCHLI       1902

(An address read at the Second Ontario Assembly of the General Church of the New Jerusalem, held in Parkdale (Toronto), Dec. 31, 1901, and Jan. 1, 1902.)

     Ten years have passed since we who are here assembled separated from the Canada Association of the New Jerusalem, and, by means of the Judgment thus effected, were enabled to enter in freedom into that life of the New Church which we then longed for, and which we now enjoy. We should not allow the decennial of that memorable event to pass without some recognition on our part; and it has therefore been proposed that we make this Assembly a Decennial Celebration. Believing that on such an occasion it will be interesting and also useful to review the past, we shall now present the history of the establishment and growth of the New Church in Canada, and of the development of the states and conditions which led to the event we now celebrate.

     "The first known receivers of the Doctrines in Canada were Mr. John Harbin, his wife and her sister, who, in 1830, left Salisbury, England, for Montreal. Mr. Harbin had received the doctrines in England. These three first came to Montreal, but remained there only during the winter, and then settled in Chinguacouchy, about twenty-five miles northwest of Toronto, where they resided some years, and where Mr. Bagwell (also an Englishman) had erected a very commodious log chapel, in which Mr. Harbin, preached regularly; and soon there were known to be a number of scattered receivers of the Doctrines in various places. An effort was also made to obtain the services of a regularly-ordained New Church minister to make a permanent, or temporary, abode with them, but without success." (Field's History of the New Church in Canada.)

     In 1832, Mr. Christian Enslin, of Berlin, came into possession of a copy of the Apocalypse Revealed, and by it was led to the New Church.

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He immediately began to spread the knowledge of the doctrines to others, and in 1841 a small society was formed, which met for worship in private houses in that year, and soon determined to build a place for public worship. This was done, and the church was dedicated on the 25th of December, 1842. In the same year, Mr. Harbin was called to Berlin to become the minister of the society. Mr. Enslin, however, continued to be the real leader of the society; for, as most of the members were Germans, and as Mr. Harbin was not acquainted with that language, they could not otherwise than look to Mr. Enslin. Under his guidance and instruction, they were, to a great extent, led to embrace sound views; for Mr. Enslin was a member of the Central Convention, which in its day occupied a place in the Church similar to that afterwards filled by the General Church.

     After the death of Mr. Harbin, in 1852, Mr. Adam Ruby conducted the services for five years, excepting for a short period of eight months, when Mr. D. K. Whittalier, a candidate for the ministry, came from the United States and served as minister. In 1857, the society engaged the Rev. F. W. Tuerk as its pastor, and under his care entered upon an era of growth and prosperity.

     A second New Church Society was formed at New Hamburg in 1858;a third in the same year at Wellesley; a fourth in 1859 at Port Elgin; a fifth in 1860o at Strathroy; and a sixth in 1861 at Montreal. Besides there were by this time quite a number of isolated receivers in various parts of Ontario,--in fact, there were more of them then than there are today.

     On the 10th of June, 1862, members of these societies and also a number of isolated receivers assembled in Berlin and formed "The Association of the New Jerusalem in Canada" (afterwards called the Canada Association of the New Jerusalem). Seventy-eight persons were present at this meeting. Eighteen places, in which there were either societies or isolated receivers, were directly represented: and five places were represented by proxies. Two ministers, the Rev. F. W. Tuerk of Berlin. and the Rev. Edwin Gould, of Montreal, were present. Mr. Adam Ruby, of Berlin, was elected president.

     In 1863 the Association again met in Berlin. At this meeting the President stated that he felt some difficulty as to the propriety of a layman holding the office of President of the Association, and therefore a committee of four was appointed to investigate the Writings of the Church as to this matter.

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This committee reported at the meeting held the following year in Montreal, to the effect that as the Association was an ecclesiastical body, and as the Writings teach that spiritual things are under the peculiar care of the clergy, the president should be a clergyman. The report occasioned considerable discussion, and was finally, on motion, "received and laid upon the table as an open question." The result, however, was that the Rev. Mr. Tuerk was chosen president. Mr. Tuerk a short time previously, at the request of the Executive Committee of the Association to the General Convention, had been consecrated as an Ordaining Minister. At this meeting a letter was read from Mr. M. Richardson, of Toronto, giving the names and addresses of 29 persons forming a society there.

     In the following year, 1865, the meeting was again held in Berlin, and the Toronto Society was received into the Association. This society also requested the ordination of its leader, Mr. John Parker, and the matter was referred to the Ecclesiastical Committee. At the meeting held in Toronto the following year, Mr. Parker was licensed, and two years afterwards ordained. He continued for some years as pastor of the society, and was succeeded in 1872 by the Rev. George Field. Neither Mr. Field, nor any of the ministers who followed him in the pastorate of the

     Toronto Society, occupied that position for any great length of time. The Rev. J. E. Bowers became pastor in 1877: the Rev. E. D. Daniels in 1882; the Rev. G. M. Davidson in 1886; the Rev. G. L. Allbutt in 1887.

     We pass rapidly over the history of the Canada Association from 1866 to 1887. The only noteworthy points are the following: A paper by the Rev. Mr. Field. in 1879, on "The Distinctive Character of the New Church, and its relation to the former Church;" the presence at the meeting of 1881, of the Rev. Messrs. Benade, Hibbard, Tafel, and Kirk, all of whom took active part in the discussions; the reception, in 1886, of the newly-formed Parkdale Society, of which the Rev. J. S. David was pastor; and the presence at the meeting of 1887, in Toronto, of the Rev. Chauncey Giles, at the special invitation of the Executive Committee of the Association.

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     This history of the Church in Canada would be lacking in one of its most important features should we fail to dwell on the character of the President's Annual Addresses to the Association. These addresses we can divide into two classes, viz., those delivered before 1876 and those delivered after that year. Those of the first mentioned class are much like the addresses usually delivered in the Church at large on such occasions; they uphold missionary work as the chief work of the Church; speak of the Church as a "missionary Church;" and also to some extent set forth the "permeation idea." There are, however, three exceptions, namely, that of 1865, treating of New Church baptism; that of 1871, on the importance of giving the young thorough instruction in the doctrines of the Church; and that of 1872, which treats of the evil state of the Christian world, mentioning particularly the evil of the destruction of unborn infants, and also admonishing those of the Church to diligently study the doctrines and live according to them, in order that they may be saved.

     But beginning with the year 1876, there is a great change in the character of the Annual Address. This is the year of the organization of the Academy of the New Church, with which Mr. Tuerk was from the beginning in sympathy, and of which he soon became a member and councilor. His addresses from this time on are presentations of Academy principles. I wish I could here quote some of the many excellent things they contain, but as time will not permit this I must content myself with presenting the mere outlines of some of them.

     I. (1876) The doctrines must be preached in their purity. They are of Divine Authority and Infallible. Preaching which is not in accordance with the doctrines, but which seeks to be "popular," is a straw fire which soon dies out. We must go to the doctrines to learn how to live, and put aside self-intelligence. We must also instruct our children in them.

     II. (1877) The doctrines are the Lord's, and of the same authority as if He Himself bad come on earth to proclaim them. They are His Second Coming. We must not mix false notions with them.

     III. (1879) The state of the Christian world is evil, and we must not hope for a great growth of the New Church in it. We must look to our children for that growth.

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     IV. (1883) A presentation of the doctrine concerning order in the Church and government by the priesthood.

     V. (1885) The fallacy of the permeation idea.     

     VI. (1888) The importance of the doctrine concerning the Second Coming of the Lord.

     VII. (1889) New Church education in New Church schools.

     VIII. (1890) Loyalty to the doctrines.

     These addresses must certainly have been to a considerable extent instrumental in preparing the way for the establishment of that better state of the Church which we now enjoy. And no one of us can otherwise than regret that he who so ably presented Academy principles should afterwards espouse the cause of those who opposed them. In doing so, he claimed that he did not renounce these principles. It is probable that his anxiety to guard against a division in the Church, rather than any change of doctrinal views, led him to do as he did. Let us believe that in that higher world, which he recently entered, he has returned to his first love, and is doing his part for the establishment of the true New Church.

     But it was not only through his addresses to the Canada Association that Mr. Tuerk was the means of laying the foundations for a better state of the Church in the future, but also through his work as pastor of the Berlin and Wellesley Societies. His sermons were true expositions of the internal sense of the Word as given in the doctrines of the Church. In order that the doctrine concerning the divine authority of the Writings might be thoroughly understood, he conducted a class of the young people, reading Dr. R. L. Tafel's work on Authority in the New Church. Nor was his good work confined only to teaching, but he also introduced a truer order of government into the society. As a result of this work, some of the members of the society espoused the cause of sound doctrine and true order, and several of them, in 1883, became members of the Academy. To the good work done by Mr. Tuerk must be added that of the Rev. Andrew Czerny, who, during the pastor's visit to Europe in 1883, acted as minister of the society; also, the influence of the occasional visits of some of the Academy ministers, among which we would especially mention that of Bishop Benade, in 1883, When he delivered an address on "The Aims of the Academy," and that of the Messrs. Tafel and Schreck in 1887, who aroused the society to a realization of the necessity of having a New Church school.

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There were, however, many in the society who viewed with disfavor the growing Academical tendencies.

     Turning our attention to Toronto, we can find there also something of a preparation for better things. Three of the pastors of the society there, namely, the Messrs. Field, Bowers, and Daniels, were men who believed in teaching the doctrines in their purity. Mr. Field was a firm believer in and forceful teacher of the doctrine of the distinctiveness of the New Church, and also a strong champion of the cause of order in the Church,--so strong, in fact, that he was inclined at times to go to undesirable extremes. Mr. Bowers was one of the very earliest members of the Academy. And Mr. Daniels was at that time very favorably inclined to the Academy's doctrinal views, and did not hesitate to let this be known. Besides the influences for good coming through the work of these ministers, we must also mention that exercised by a layman, who was a zealous champion of the Academy's cause, and who was best known to the readers of the New Church Tidings (the organ of the Canada Association) under the nom de plume of "X." The attitude of some of the members of the Toronto Society towards the Academy was probably well expressed by Mr. Daniels at the meeting of the Association in 1884, when, giving his report as a delegate to Convention, he said: "The Academy seems to be the strongest power to hold the Church at large to the ultimates of true doctrine, and keep it from flying off into 'influx' or nothingness. There are some faults in the Academy's way of doing things which prevent my desiring to become a member, but I am constrained to acknowledge the useful work it is doing." However, the inclination of the Toronto Society as a whole was far more strongly towards the Convention spirit than towards that of the Academy, as is evident from the invitation extended to the President of the Convention to attend the Association meeting in Toronto in 1887 (for which action Toronto was chiefly responsible), and the enthusiastic reception which was accorded him.

     In addition to the influences we have mentioned as contributing to an affirmative attitude towards sound doctrine and true order both in the Canada Association as a whole, and in the Berlin, Toronto and Wellesley Societies in particular, must be added one other, namely, the publications of the Academy.

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Both "Words for the New, Church" and "New Church Life" had a considerable
number of subscribers in Canada, and as the teachings which they contained were received by some and rejected by others there was thus a preparation for that Judgment which was shortly to be accomplished.

     We have reviewed the states and influences existing in the Church in Canada up to the year 1888, in order that it may be seen what was the character of the field into which the two young priests from the Academy, who then came to Canada, entered. We see that to a certain extent they entered into the labors of others; that is, built upon the foundations of whole well done in earlier days; and we also see that they were obliged to meet a state of suspicion of the Academy on the part of some, and of opposition, more or less determined, on the part of others.

     In September, 1888, the Berlin Society opened a New Church school, with the Rev. F. E. Waelchli as head-master; and three months later, in January, 1889, the Rev. E. S. Hyatt entered upon his duties as pastor of the Parkdale Society. Mr. Hyatt was able immediately to take up the work of presenting sound doctrine to those of the Church, both by means of sermons and instruction in doctrinal classes; but except by teaching the truth, he in no wise sought to bring about any changes in the life and order of the society; the teaching being given, he waited for its free reception on the part of the people; and it was not long before evidences of such reception on the part of some appeared; but there also appeared opposition on the part of others. In the course of time some of the members of the Toronto Society, who desired to hear the doctrines taught in their purity, began to attend at Parkdale; while, on the other hand, certain members of the Parkdale Society, who could not endure such teaching. ceased to attend.

     In Berlin, Mr. Waelchli did not at first have any opportunity to give instruction to adults, excepting in occasional sermons. In time, however, the way opened; for in his second year a class was organized for the study of the principles of education, and as teacher of this class he was able to give much-needed instruction in many things. Those who attended this class, and their children, are today the Carmel Church of the New Jerusalem. At the beginning of the third year of the school, the Rev. J. E. Rosenqvist was added to the staff of teachers, and thus there were now three Academy ministers in Canada.

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Mr. Rosenqvist, however, did not become a member of the Berlin Society or of the Canada Association. The opponents of the Academy in the society soon began to view with alarm the growth in the reception of Academy ideas, and to vigorously oppose the same. This opposition culminated in the abolishing of the School in July, 1891; and among those who took part in doing this was the pastor of the society. It was evidently hoped that the head-master would now be obliged to bid the town farewell: but instead of so doing, he announced that another school would be opened.

     But let us now turn our attention to the meetings of the Canada Association during these three years. The meeting of 1889 was held in Toronto, and the noteworthy incident of the same was the granting of a preacher's license to Mr. T. M. Martin. This was opposed by the Messrs. Hyatt, Richard Roschman, J. Stroh, and Waelchli, on the ground that the applicant did not possess the required qualifications.

     In 1890 the Association met in Berlin. At this meeting the forces of the Academy and of the Convention were arrayed against each other, and the sessions were principally occupied with a discussion of the issues between the two bodies. The discussion was opened by Mr. Hyatt's report as a delegate to the last General Convention, and he clearly set forth the ill-treatment and injustice which the General Church of Pennsylvania there received. He also dwelt on the unwillingness of Convention to follow the clear teachings of the doctrines in regard to the order of government in the Church. He was followed by Mr. Allbutt, who defended the Convention. Some one then asked for information as to what the Academy is and what its position; and the answer given by Mr. Roy will be well remembered by all who heard it. The next subject for consideration was concerning the Writings as the Word of God. On the one side it was shown that we cannot regard them otherwise than as the Word; while on the other it was maintained that only the Letter of the Word is the Word for the Church. On this followed the question of Church government, and, after one of the opposition had delivered himself of his pent-up feelings in remarks hardly complimentary to the Academy, the subject was referred to the Ecclesiastical Committee for consideration.

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And now came the controversy on the main question before the meeting, namely, the renewal of Mr. Martin's license. This matter had been referred to the Ecclesiastical Committee, which in its report advised against the granting of the license, on the ground that the applicant did not come up to the standard of requirements. Mr. Allbutt, a member of the Committee, presented a minority report. Time will not permit us to dwell on the long and animated discussion which followed. The license was not granted.

     Soon after the meeting of the Association, three "closed" meetings of the Toronto Society were held, in order to hear the reports of the delegates of the society to the Association. These meetings were of such a character that Mr. Carswell, the president of the society, felt constrained to resign his office. Resolutions were offered by the pastor and passed by the society, criticizing the action of the Association in refusing a renewal of the license for Mr. Martin, and advising him to continue his activity as a missionary. A committee was also appointed to consider, in all its bearings, the subject of Academy influence in the Association, and to ascertain the wishes and views "of all the members of the Association on this subject." Mr. Martin's report to this meeting was soon afterwards published as a pamphlet, bearing the title, Report of T. Mower Martin, Licentiate of the Canada Association of the New Church, to the Toronto Society. Exemplifying the Methods of the Academy in Canada. A few months later, in January, 1891, the Toronto Society and some of their adherents in other parts of the province met and formed "The General Church of Canada," and resolved to apply for admission into the Convention. The organ of the Canada Association, the New Church Tidings, which Mr. Allbutt had edited, now passed into the hands of Mr. Hyatt; while the General Church of Canada began the publication of a new paper, called The Star in the East.

     Before proceeding to an account of the next meeting of the Association, certain events which transpired in Berlin must be related. In July, the quarterly meeting of the Berlin Society was held. The pastor hall on that day sent to the Academy his resignation as a member of that body. The school-room was crowded, the opponents of the Academy being present in full force. The business before the meeting was the choice of delegates to the coming meeting of the Association.

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The Academicians learned that the pastor, without the knowledge of his council, and contrary to the laws of the society, had allowed a number of Persons to sign their names to the Constitution of the Society.

     For more than two hours there was heated discussion as to who were justly-qualified voters in the society. The effort to obtain a recognition of the order laid down in the Constitution was futile. Injustice after injustice, and insult after insult were directed against the adherents of the Academy. The opposition elected their set of delegates, though many of the votes on their side were challenged Because of the ill-treatment they had received, the adherents of the Academy decided that they could no longer worship with the Berlin Society, and therefore on the following Sunday services were begun at the house of Mr. Richard Roschman; but those attending them decided to retain their membership in the Berlin Society until after the meeting of the Association.

     The meeting of the Association for 1891 was again held in Berlin. The evening before, the opening of the meeting of the Executive Committee, nearly all the members of which were Academicians, was held. It was shown that the delegation of the Berlin Society to the Association was illegal, there being more delegates than the society was entitled to. After long discussion the president, who was also pastor of the Berlin Society, consented to report as to the exact state of the matter as the first business of the morning. But when the morning came he refused to fulfill his promise, holding that it was none of the Executive Committee's business, and in this view he was sustained by the whole opposition; while our side held that the meeting was not properly constituted and that business could not proceed until this question was settled. I find it difficult to refrain from giving the many interesting occurrences of the meeting; but only a general account must now be presented, and there can be none better than that which was given in the Tidings: "The main part of the first two days' discussion hinged upon one subject--the illegality of the Berlin delegation. Upon such ultimate ground it had to be taken, for we have found by long experience that our understanding of the Doctrines and that of our opponents are so radically and entirely different that there is really no common ground upon which any satisfactory discussion of Doctrine can be based.

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This year, therefore, differently from last, the discussion was led on our side by laymen. On the first day, they rested their claims on common justice, and appealed to the honor of our opponents, but with no more success than we had previously met with on doctrinal ground. On the second day, therefore, they claimed that what they had contended for the civil law would enable them to take they had contended for, the civil law would enable them to take made that we should retain the Tidings and the Book Room, and retire at once, our opponents fairly seemed to jump at the proposition, although we fear that if it had been made earlier in the discussion the matter was settled. Then, after a brief farewell speech, we each walked up to the President's chair, and after shaking hands with him, passed out of the building."

     The farewell speech, which was made by Mr. Hyatt, was as follows "The division just effected is one that has already taken place in the United States and England, as now in Canada. The essential cause of the division has been the same throughout. It has not been because of any minor matters, however it may have at times appeared to be so. It all arises from the attitude which we respectively take towards the Writings. To you they are, at most, only one of many instrumental means which the Lord is using for the establishment of the New Church, a means, too, which is all the time being placed by you in a more and more subordinate position, while natural good and human prudence are principally depended upon as the most important means of establishing the Church. To us the Writings are the Lord's Word; and we believe that the New Church call be established among us by no means except by teaching and acting according to all that is there taught. Upon that means alone we desire to depend, both as to the work of our own individual regeneration, and as to the work of organizing any visible form of the New Church. This most fundamental difference between us is what causes your efforts and ours to clash in every detail of work we undertake. It is, therefore, that we may be free to enjoy, without that constant opposition, the privilege of co-operating with the Lord in the establishment of the New Church, through the only means by which we believe it can be done, that we now, through your President, say good-bye to the Canada Association."

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     In the evening of the day on which these events took place,--Friday:, September 18th,--a social gathering of those who had withdrawn from the Association was held at the house of Mr. Rudolf Roschman. Ninety-six Persons were present, among them Mr. Robert M. Glenn, Treasurer of the Academy, who had come to Berlin to consult in regard to the establishment of an Academy school there. A very happy time was spent. We felt that the day of freedom had come.

     On the following Sunday, services were held at the house of Mr. Richard Roschman, when Mr. Hyatt preached to a congregation of 98 persons.

     From what has been related of the Judgment which took place ten years ago, two things must be evident: I. That the issues were not of an external character, but doctrinal. II. That the Judgment was necessary, since without it we would not have come into freedom to form the life and order of the Church in accordance with the doctrines. That the issues were doctrinal, and were acknowledged to be such by the opposition also, is evident from the remarks of the Rev. G. L. Allbutt at the Association the day after the separation, when he said: "The General Church of Canada, as it saw no doctrinal change in the Association, Passed a resolution, at its recent meeting, not to rejoin it; but the Association is very much changed now, which may alter our attitude." That we were not in freedom in the Association to form the life and order of the Church in accordance with the doctrines is evident from several things. First, we were not free to introduce into the Church the spirit of looking to the Writings as the Word, which involved that we were not free to worship the Lord as He reveals Himself in His Second Coming. There was determined opposition to this vital doctrine, as is evident from the pages of the Star of the East. Second, we were not free to introduce that order and government of the Church which the doctrines clearly teach. Without that order there can be no progress. Order in the Church is not, as some would have us believe, an unimportant matter. The Lord is Order Itself; from Him it is in all the heavens, and from Him it must also be in the Church.

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If the Church does not receive order from the Lord, it cannot be created into His Image and Likeness. Third, we were not free to educate our children in genuine New Church schools. In Berlin, those who desired to do this were deprived of the school. The cause of this opposition to true New Church education is evident from the circular issued by the General Church of Canada and addressed to the members of the Canada Association, in which, among the Academy principles held up for the especial execration of the Church in Canada, is the teaching "that we must look to our own children to constitute the future New Church." Our opponents did not believe that we must look to our children for the growth of the Church, and they did not believe it because they were unwilling to see and acknowledge the clear teachings of the Doctrines concerning the state of the Christian world. We were told again and again that the world could educate our children better than we can do it ourselves, and that it is the duty of the New Churchman to send his children to the public schools; also, that far greater good could be done by using the money applied to these schools for the purpose of making known the truths of the Church to the "multitudes" who were thirsting for them. And here it might be mentioned that this question of the state of the Christian world was one of the important issues involved in the separation. We, believing what the doctrines teach on this subject, felt that it is the first duty of the Church to provide for internal growth; our opponents, disregarding the teachings, thought most of all of external growth. These two ideas were constantly clashing, and it was not until after the Judgment that each part!: was in freedom to act in accordance with its convictions.

     The ten years which have passed since the events described took place have been for us a period of growth and progress. They have not been free from trials, but on the whole they have been a time of happiness,--of happiness such as we had never before known in the life of the Church. For this let us be thankful to the Lord, and ever humbly acknowledge that the blessings which we enjoy are of His Mercy. And let it be our earnest prayer that He protect us from the evils and falsities of hell, which are constantly seeking to destroy the Church, and keep us loyal to the Divine Truth.

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On this loyalty depends our salvation; and on it also depends the future growth and prosperity of that Church which we love so much,--the General Church of the New Jerusalem.
PROPHECY 1902

PROPHECY              1902

     "There was a certain spirit who continually despised me, but still could not depart from me. No matter how much I labored with him, he still wanted to mix himself into the things which I have written; he was not able to desist from it, although he heartily despised me, for if only the things which were written came forth from him, then he had desire for it. Now he is again above my head, saying that he will still remain with me, and will rule as it pleases him. This signifies that there are persons who will, indeed, read these Writings, but will still remain in their own opinions and will interpret them according to their own fancies; and, because they are natural, they are not willing to desist from this, even though they may see the truths." (S. D., 1389.)

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Minor Works by Swedenborg 1902

Minor Works by Swedenborg              1902

     ANSWER TO A LETTER WRITTEN ME BY A FRIEND

[The Letter here printed was written by Swedenborg in 1769, in response to the first letter addressed to him by Rev. Thomas Hartley. (See New Church Life, 1902. p. 65. We take occasion to correct the following misprints occurring on that page: on 1. 9, for 1865 read 1765; on 1. 13, for 1866 read 1766: on l. 16, for 1869 read 1769, and the same on l. 4 infra).]

     I REJOICE in the friendship which you manifest in your letter, and for both letter and friendship, but especially for the friendship, I give you my sincere thanks. The praises with which you overwhelm me, I receive simply as being from your love of the truths contained in my writings. And because they are from this love, I refer them to the Lord our Savior from Whom everything true is because He is the Truth Itself, John xiv., 6. I have directed my attention only to what you write at the end of your letter, where you say: "if, perchance, after your departure from England, your writings should become a subject of discussion, and occasion should arise for defending you, their author, against any ill-disposed reviler who shall endeavor to injure your reputation by a web of falsehoods--as some haters of truth are in the habit of doing--would it not be useful, for the refutation of such slanders, for you to leave with me some particulars respecting yourself,--your degrees in the University, the public offices you have filled, your friends and relations, the honors which, I am told, have been conferred upon you, and whatever else might be of service in establishing your good name,--so that ill-conceived prejudices may he removed: for all lawful mean's should be used lest the truth stiffer any injury."

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After reflecting on this, I have been led to comply with your friendly advice that I should communicate some particulars of my life. These in brief are as follows.

     I was born in Stockholm on the 29th of January, 1688.* My father's name was Jesper Swedberg, who was Bishop of West-Gothland, and a man of celebrity in his time. He was also elected and enrolled as a, member of the English Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, for he had been appointed by King Charles XII. Bishop over the Swedish churches in Pennsylvania, and also over the Swedish church in London. III the year 1710 I went abroad, first to England and thence to Holland, France and Germany, returning home in the year 1715.** In the year 1716, and Sweden, who greatly favored me and in the same year appointed me to the office of Assessor in the College of Mines, which office I filled until the year 1747, when I resigned, retaining, however, the salary of the office during my life. My sole object in resigning was that I might have more time to devote to the new office enjoined on me by the Lord. A higher post of honor was then offered me, but I positively declined it lest pride therefrom should enter my mind. In the year 1719 I was ennobled by Queen Ulrica Eleonora and named Swedenborg; and from that time I have taken my seat among the nobles of the Ecluestrian estate in the triennial assemblies of the Diet. I am a Fellow and member, by invitation, of the Royal Academy of Sciences in Stockholm; I have never sought admission into any literary society elsewhere, because I am in an angelic society, and the business of this society concerns only such things as are of heaven and the soul, while the business of literary societies concerns the things of the world and the body. In the year 1734, I published, at Leipsic, the Regnuum Minerale, in three volumes, folio. In the year 1738 I made a journey to Italy and stayed for a year at Venice and Rome.
     * The original edition has "1689," which is clearly either a misprint or a slip of the pen.--TR.
     ** The original edition has 1714, but Swedenborg did not return to Sweden until after April. 1715.--TR.

     With respect to my relations: I had four sisters. One of them was married to Eric Benzelius, who afterwards became Archbishop of Upsala, and thus I became related to the two succeeding Archbishops, both of whom were of the family of Benzelius, being younger brothers of Eric.

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My second sister was married to Lars Benzelstierna, who was appointed to the honorable post of governor of a province, but these men are now dead. Two Bishops, however, who are related to me, are still living. One of them, whose name is Filenius, is Bishop of East-Gothland; he now officiates as President in the House of the Clergy of the Diet in Stockholm, in place of the Archbishop, who is an invalid; he married my sister's daughter. The other, whose name is Benzelstierna, is Bishop of Westmanlantl and Dalecarlia; he is the son of my second sister. Not to mention others of my relations who occupy stations of honor. Moreover, in my native country all the Bishops, ten in number, and also the Senators, of whom there are sixteen, and the other high officials hold me in affection, and from their affection they honor me, and I live with them on terms of familiarity as a friend among friends; and this because they know that I am in company with the angels. Even the King and Queen and the three princes, their sons, show me great favor. Once, also, I was invited by the King and Queen to dine with them at their own table, an honor which is generally given to none but the highest officials; and afterwards the Crown Prince granted me the same favor. They all desire my return, wherefore in my own country I am far from apprehending that persecution which you fear, and against which, in your letter, you provide in so friendly a manner; and if they persecute me elsewhere it can do me no harm.

     But all that I have thus far related, I regard as of comparatively little moment, for it is far exceeded by the fact that I have been called to a holy office by the Lord who most mercifully manifested Himself in Person before me, His servant, in the year 1743, and then opened my sight into the spiritual world, and granted me to speak with spirits and angels; and this has continued even to the present day. From that time I began to print and publish the various arcana seen by me and revealed to me; as, the arcana concerning heaven and hell, concerning the state of men after death, concerning true Divine worship, the spiritual sense of the Word, besides many other most important matters conducive to salvation and wisdom. The only reason why I have at times left my country for foreign lands, has been the desire of performing uses and of disclosing the arcana entrusted to me.

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Moreover, I have as much of this world's wealth as I need, and I neither seek nor desire for more.

     I have been induced by your letter to note down all these particulars in order that, as you say, "ill-conceived prejudices may be removed." Farewell! and from my heart I wish you all happiness both in this world and the world to come; nor do I doubt but that you will obtain it ii you look and pray to our Lord. EMAN. SWEDENBORG.
WRITINGS: THEIR FIVE-FOLD RECEPTION 1902

WRITINGS: THEIR FIVE-FOLD RECEPTION              1902

     "While I was talking with some spirits in the street as to how these Writings will be received, when published, it was given to perceive that there will be five kinds of reception. The first kind is by those who will altogether reject; that is, those who are in some kind of persuasion or who are enemies of faith: these reject, for it cannot be received by them because it cannot penetrate into their mind. The second Kind is by those who will receive these things as matters of knowledge, and who are interested in them as scientifics and curiosities. The third kind is by those who will receive intellectually, so that they accept quite eagerly, but still remain as before in respect to their life. The fourth kind is by those who will receive with conviction, in that it penetrates even to the amendment of their life: the truths occur to them in certain states, and they make use of them. The fifth kind is by those who will receive with joy and be confirmed." (S. D., 2955.)

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Editorial Department 1902

Editorial Department       Editor       1902

     READING THE WRITINGS IN WORSHIP.

     The Rev. Frank Sewall, in an article in the Messenger (Feb. 12), on "The 'Word' and the 'Writings in Worship," takes the ground that the Heavenly Doctrines may, indeed, occasionally be introduced into the Church services, but only as part of the "teaching office of the Church, and not as intruding upon !hat plane of worship distinctly occupied by the reading and hearing of the Sacred Scriptures," but he would favor the reading of the Writings on the basis of the historical precedent of the Roman Catholic Church, which "has had her prescribed readings from the Church Fathers."

     There seems to be some confusion, here, as to the real object and use of the reading of the Sacred Scriptures in worship. If the Word in the Letter is not read for the sake of instruction and teaching, then its adoration becomes an idolatrous worship of a mere external, and may justly he termed "bibliotary." Apart from its Divine teaching the Word is, of course, merely a book. The reading of the Word in the worship, therefore, belongs clearly to "the teaching office,"--the teaching office of the Lord. But "the teaching office of the Church" is quite a different thing, being a human and, therefore, fallible exposition and interpretation of the Divine teaching, and to relegate the Writings of the New Church to this plane is to deny that the Writings are a Divine Revelation, and to impress this denial most forcibly upon the worshiping congregation. But if the Writings are not a Divine Revelation, then the New Church and its distinctive worship have no reason or excuse for existence.

     From his own point of view, the writer is quite consistent in his position. If the Writings are not the Word or teaching of God, then they certainly have no place in the worship of the Church, except on the par and plane of the minister's sermon or of the expositions of a Tertullian or an Augustine. But it must be admitted that those who do believe that the Writings are the distinctive Revelation of the Lord to the New Church, have as much reason for reading them as such in their worship, as the Jewish Church had for reading the Old Testament, or as the early Christians had for reading the Gospels.

     The root of the present confusion in the New Church as to the mutual relations of the Word and the Writings is revealed by this writer when he states that "Swedenborg distinctly says that when men read the literal sense devoutly, the angels are with them in the spiritual sense. He does not say this of reading the Writings." Of course, he does not say this, since he nowhere claims that the Writings are the literal sense of the Word.

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But since he does claim that the Writings are the revelation of the spiritual sense itself, is it not clear that the reading of these Writings introduces most immediately to the angels who are in that very sense?

     The Writings of the New Church must, indeed, be kept distinct from the Letter of the Word, even as the internal sense is distinct from the literal sense, but the true reasons for this distinction are very different from those assigned by the writer in the Messenger. The two revelations are each the Word of God, but on entirely different planes,--the Writings being the Divine Rational, the Letter of the Word on the Divine Sensual plane. The latter, indeed, is the Divine Truth in the fullness of its holiness, but this does not mean that all Divine Truth above the sensual plane is entirely void of holiness. The fact is that the holiness of the Letter is derived solely and exclusively from the holy Truth within. Everything Divine is holy. And though the Writings do not communicate with heaven in, the same manner as does the Letter, still it is Divine and Angelic Wisdom which in them is communicated to men. This, indeed, is the very first lesson and impression which the Writings themselves give to those who receive them. Who, that has once tasted "the Balm of Gilead," the delight which accompanies the first reception of the Heavenly Doctrines, has not seen Heaven itself opening to him in these Writings? Who could persuade him, then, that he was not by this reading communing with the angels of heaven, nay with the Lord Himself, the Author of this glorious new revelation! It is then as in the halcyon days of the honeymoon,--no fear, no doubt, but adoration, trust, and love. To this their first love let the men of the New Church return, and then they will again be able to hear the voice of the Lord Himself when reading the Writings.

     CO-OPERATION AMONG THE PUBLISHING HOUSES.

     The American Swedenborg Society, during the past six months, has been in correspondence with the Rotch Trustees, of Boston, the Swedenborg Society of London, and the Academy of the New Church, with a view to ascertain in how far there could be established some degree of co-operation between these bodies in the work of translating and publishing the Writings of the Church, so as to avoid, at least, a simultaneous duplication of labor. From the answers received thus far it appears that the publishing houses in Boston and London "are just now so deeply engaged in enterprises of their own, that no substantial unity of action can be arrived at at the present time.

     The effort of the American Swedenborg Society is well meant, and we wonder why some sort of co-operation cannot be established among those whose aims and principles are of the same general nature. Worldly wisdom shows that greater results are gained by combination than by individual efforts. The American Swedenborg Society, the London Society, and the Boston Trustees are virtually unanimous in their aims and principles of translation.

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Their common motive or end in view seems to be to present the Writings in such language and form as shall be most adapted and attractive to the understanding and tastes of possible readers in the world outside the New Church. To them "good English" seems to be the most essential feature of a good translation, but if the idea that they should translate primarily for the use of New Church men were uppermost in their mind, they would produce very different versions from the present ones. One and all, they avoid as far as possible the distinctive terminology of the New Church, fearing that these terms will be unintelligible to new readers, but by this proceeding they render their versions misleading or worthless to those who, as a matter of fact, constitute the great majority of the readers of the Writings. And thus the translators are constantly working at cross purposes with the best interests of their actual public.

     But it is hopeless to argue with "the powers that be" in the great publishing houses of the Church. Their one fixed idea is that "the New Church is a missionary Church," and to this idea everything else is kept subordinate. Some day, however, the men of the New Church will rise up to demand a translation of the Writings in a form adapted to their requirements, and it will then be found that honesty to the original is after all the best policy, even for "missionary" purposes. But that day is still distant.

     THE IDEA OF NEW CHURCH EDUCATION IN MASSACHUSETTS.

     Time was when the New Church in New England was the vanguard in the movement for distinctive education in the Church. That was in the early forties, and those were the days of rapid growth in the Church. Now there comes the following report of a discussion held recently in Boston on the subject of "New Church Schools," which we quote as a "sign of the times:"

     "The New-Church Club in Boston has devoted a considerable part of its last two meetings to a discussion of the uses of New-Church schools. The ideas brought out, though perhaps not new, may be of interest if briefly summarized for Messenger readers.

     "Mr. James E. Young, who introduced the topic, deplored the generally recognized fact that our schools are not what it was hoped they might be and the resultant abandonment of New-Church beliefs by many New-Church children as they grow up. The Rev. Mr. Wright voiced a somewhat extended belief that the situation is more encouraging than might be inferred, and cautioned against a judgment based on external results alone. The Rev. Mr. Vrooman called attention to a proposed college which should have a chair of spiritual philosophy and which should provide a new collateral literature and develop into an actual New-Church university. The Rev. Mr. Hite urged a more generous endowment of the schools we now have and Mr. Asa E. Goddard spoke of the varying ideas as to what was desired in New-Church education and the need of first agreeing upon what we want.

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The duty of supporting the secular schools was suggested by the Rev. Mr. Reed, who though upon the decision of the question, 'Does secular education belong to the Church or the State?' must depend our attitude towards the New-Church schools. In this matter of education we are never forget that the home must be the center of religious influences The Rev. Mr. Frost took the ground that the study of the Bible is all that is needed in a New-Church school. There is no need to establish more schools to teach natural truth. What the world needs is the teaching of spiritual truth. This could well be the province of School instituted by the New Church The field is worldwide. Judge Albert Mason recognized that while the Church accomplishes its best work through the home and the family, there was the need of providing religious training and something approaching the home surrounding for those children who could not have the real home surroundings and the religious advantages combined Dr. Prince suggested a danger of developing the theologic at the expense of the spiritual side in New-Church school such as Mr. Frost proposed Dr. Whiston spoke of the danger to children of high-school age from the teaching of science as now practiced by some teachers who are avowed atheists no recognition of the fact that God is the source of all life. He thought that Bible school such as suggested might he most useful if it would teach the spiritual side of science as the New Church knows it. The Rev. Mr. Warren said it is our duty to support the secular schools, to do our best to improve them and to supplant them by New-Church instruction. He spoke of the many opportunities for instilling into the minds of the very young the doctrine of uses. (New Church Messenger, Jan. 22.)

     It is curious to notice in this discussion that the laymen in general expressed sounder and more affirmative views on the subject than most of the ministers. We are disappointed at the attitude assumed by Messrs. Reed and Warren. Dr Whistons statement is a sufficient answer to their pleadings for "the secular schools."

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Monthly Review 1902

Monthly Review              1902

LITERARY NEWS.

Books Received.

Arcana Coelestia. Rotch edition. Vol. xiii (nos. 7255-8032.) Boston. Massachusetts New Church Union. 1902. pp. 408.

     Concordance to the Theological Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg. Part 116. Containing, 1st, the completed appendix of cross-references and things omitted in the main body of the work, and, 2d, the beginning of a Latin-English Vocabulary of words used in the original text of the Writings.

     Swedenborg and Modern Idealism, A Retrospect of Philosophy from Kant to the present time. By Frank Sewall. M. A., London. James Speirs. 1902. pp. 277 We hope to present, in a future issue, a review of this very interesting and noteworthy publication.

     "Divine Providence" in Danish. Arrangements have been made for the publication of the work On the Divine Providence in the Danish tongue, by co-operation between the Swedenborg Publishing Association of Copenhagen and the American Swedenborg Society. The translation is the work of the Rev. William Winslow.

     "Heaven and Hell" in Dutch. We learn from the Monatblatter that the long expected Dutch version of Heaven and Hell (translated by Mr. G. Barger, of the Hague) has at length appeared. The work forms a handsome, well-bound volume of 463 pages, and contains as frontispiece a steel-engraved portrait of Swedenborg. We believe this is the first complete publication of any of the Writings in the Netherlands, since the days when Swedenborg himself published the True Christian Religion in Amsterdam, one hundred and thirty-one years ago. There is not a single Protestant country where the Heavenly Doctrines have found so slow a reception as in Holland, the country where they first appeared, but this is quite in keeping with the Dutch character as portrayed in the Writings. We are told that they adhere more tenaciously than any other nation to the religious principles which they have once received, and that they above all others are confirmed most profoundly in the doctrine of justification by faith alone. Nevertheless, they possess "a pre-eminent apperception of both spiritual and civil truth." and "excel all other Christians in distinguishing phantasy from reality." In the other life, after the nature of Heaven and true Religion has been revealed to them, descriptively and experimentally, "they then become more constant than others, so that they may be called constancies, nor do they suffer themselves to be led away by any reasoning, fallacy or obscurity." (Cont. L. J. 49, 50; S. D. 3515, 5029; L. J. Post. 19).

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We have good reasons for believing therefore, that, in time, there will be developed a very excellent kind of New-churchmanship among the Dutch, and we hope that the recent publication of Heaven and Hell in their own language will prove an entering wedge, fitted to some crack in their ancient wall of stolid conservatism. Now let this work be not only printed, but also advertised and freely distributed in Holland.

     The Spiritual Diary in German. The publication of this important work has now been made possible by the co-operation of the Swedenborg Verein of Stuttgart, the Swiss New Church Union, the German Missionary Union, the German Synod, and the Academy of the New Church. The Manuscript is at present in the hands of Rev. L. H. Tafel, who, together with Rev. W. H. Schliffer, will carefully compare it with the Latin original. The version, which is the work of the late Prof. Pfirsch, is in pure and flowing German, and it is believed that it will surpass the English version in respect to correctness and fidelity to the original. Nevertheless, some revision will be necessary. The whole work will appear in five volumes, of about 700 pages each, and will cost $1.50 per volume. Subscriptions for the first volume, or for the entire work, should be sent, as soon as possible, to Rev. L. H. Tafel, 133 N. 50th St., Philadelphia.

     "Ontology, or the Signification of Philosophical Terms, By Emanuel Swedenborg. Translated and edited by Alfred Acton, Professor of Theology in the Academy of the New Church."

     This latest edition of the Ontology bears the imprint of the Massachusetts New Church Union, and makes a neat booklet of some seventy-five pages, of which nearly fifty are devoted to the text. The type and make-up are good, and each of the sixteen chapters is allowed to begin a new page. The only fault to be found with the publisher's part of the work is that the print shows through the pages badly in some places.

     As to the Editor's part of the work, we welcome it as an important aid to the study of this little known work. The translation is simple and direct, like the Author's own style, and full advantage has been take of Dr. Tafel's very full and scholarly criticism of the former edition, in Words for the New Church. Even in the title the present editor has done the church a service by adding a sub-title, taken from one of Swedenborg's numerous prospectuses which is clearly and briefly explanatory of the contents of the work. The book consists of quotations from contemporary philosophers on each of its sixteen subjects, mainly from Wolf and Dupleix, together with Swedenborg's own definitions, wherein it is seen in a striking manner how at every step his master mind was reaching out above and beyond them, to the interior realities of things.

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     The translator's Preface gives a very interesting history of this work, and contains also a discussion of its place in the development of Swedenborg's mind, and thus of its relative importance to a Newchurchman. This preface is brimful of interest, even to those who do not claim to be students. We take the liberty of quoting from it a few paragraphs.

     "The Ontology, which was written by Swedenborg in the year 1742, is one of those numerous small treatises which marked his progress in the search for the soul. These separate treatises or studies were subsequently to be included, according to a definite plan of which he published several different prospectuses, in one grand work of several volumes, in which, as the end of the labor, 'the crown of all human wisdom,' the soul, was to be discovered in the body."

     "The Ontology was written immediately after the work on the soul, the two works being written in the same manuscript volume, in that order. It is the last of Swedenborg's purely philosophical works, setting forth his final views respecting the soul, and the relation of spirit to matter. In this work he went as far as human philosophy, unaided by revelation, could take him, and he failed to reach his goal." It was doubtless because he realized this, says the editor, that he did not go on and cap the climax of his studies with the proposed work on "Rational Psychology" (the preceding work being the "Introduction to Rational Psychology") but "girded up his loins afresh, and entered upon a new journey in search of the soul," i. e., he wrote the Animal Kingdom, which was his last purely scientific or philosophical work, unless we include the Worship and Love of God, which some regard as intermediate.

     The translator states that the chief use of this work is not to give forth new spiritual light such as revelation alone can give, but to throw light on the development of Swedenborg's mind, and on the meaning of his terms. The translator of the former edition (Rev. P. B. Cabell), is quoted as follows: "Although it was written at a period prior to the author's illumination, it seems reasonable to infer that the meaning of those terms remained essentially the same in his theological works." Nevertheless, in the chapter on Essence, the author's word esse is rendered existence, because (as the editor says in a note) the latter term, as understood by Newchurchmen, is nearer the meaning. Perhaps it would have been better to put the interpretation in the notes, rather than in the text, especially if, as he says, esse was the word in common use in this connection among the philosophers.

     The editor also approaches very near to an interesting question now under discussion in the Church, when he says. "Though before his illumination. Swedenborg did not see the truth respecting spiritual causes, yet it is evident that he had basic philosophical ideas which brought him to an obscure perception of higher things, and prepared him to receive them later." It seems to us that the first clause here is considerably modified by the second, for how could be have "sound basic philosophical ideas" unless he possessed from the Ancients, or from the Letter of the Word, or elsewhere, some truth respecting spiritual causes?

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Indeed, the book needs no apology. It contains positive truth, distinctly beyond what is quoted, and as superior to it as one discrete degree is to another. In substantiation of this claim, let us take the very first subject. "Form." In No. 7 he shows, practically, that there is a discrete degree between spiritual forms and material forms, but that they are related to each other by a "certain correspondence" or eminent analogy, and this is the reason why there is so great a variety of spirits, or of spiritual forms." However, he is not always clear, as in chapter V, where he attributes Substance to the various organics or sensoria of the mind, rather than to the influent life from above. Yet here, as in the very interesting chapter on "Extent," there is a clear discrimination between material and immaterial forms. He labors, however, to find terms to express his new thoughts, and we are constantly reminded of the Divine leading, which was ever preparing him for his great work. It is, after all, this knowledge which warns us not to be hasty in criticizing his works, or even to give the impression of making much of trifling errors such as those referred to in notes 16 and 27, where Swedenborg translates a French word meaning "however" by the Latin interdum, especially as interdum, "sometimes," also means "meanwhile." There are other notes which show that in many places Swedenborg was giving a mere sketch of the teachings which he adduced, and not a verbatim transcription. The notes give Swedenborg's own elliptical quotations, but what is perhaps the chief merit of this edition, and must have taken a large outlay of time and trouble, is that the quotations have been restored in full from the original authors. In this way, many passages wholly obscure in the former edition are here rendered intelligible. We are glad also that in each case where editing has been done, it is carefully noted. Many critical notes are given of the Latin text, which are also of great value, especially in view of the fact that the Latin text has never yet been published. Finally, as if to leave nothing undone which might contribute to the completeness of the work, there is an index appended which, though brief, is particularly compendious.     H. S.

     Rex Regum. A Painter's Study of the Likeness of Christ, from the time of the Apostles to the present day. By Sir Wyke Rayliss, F. S. A., president of the Royal Society of British Artists. London. George Bell and Sons. pp.192.

     Though published some time ago, we have not until very recently had an opportunity to examine this work, and we have been so delighted with it, that, though it is in no sense a New Church publication, we feel prompted to bring it to the attention of our readers.

     The subject of the book is the Likeness of our Lord as He was seen by men when He dwelt on this earth. The author maintains, and proves at least to our satisfaction, that though none of the ancient, medieval, or modern pictures of the Lord can be said to be an actual portrait of the Lord in His human, yet the well-known type and general features and contour which pervades them all and which have been retained through all the ages are an actual verisimilitude and real Likeness.

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     The work abounds in beautiful reproductions of the famous representations of the Lord which are found among the frescoes in the catacombs, the mosaics in the basilicas, and the paintings of the great masters of the Renaissance and of modern times. Among all these, the palm is justly given to a portrait which is but little known, the picture of Christ in the catacomb of S. Callisto. The author regards this as "the most beautiful,--as it is at the same time the divinest and the most human..... I take it as the type of the Likeness in the catacombs,...and I believe it to have been the work of a Roman artist, a portrait painter, who had himself seen Christ."

     Whether this be the case or not, it is certain that the portrait is of very great antiquity, nay, the internal evidence points to it as the very earliest of all the likenesses of the Lord. The art of portrait painting was at its best in Rome at the time of the Caesars, but thenceforth steadily declined. The series of portraits of Christ, as depicted on the walls of the catacombs, tell the same story of decline; the earliest are the most artistic, the most full of manly individuality and expression; the later ones, while still retaining the original type, become increasingly crude and conventional, and the expression becomes more and more meek and sorrowful. The earlier ones are always without aureoles or symbols. Later come the halos, crosses, wreaths of thorn and drops of blood. To the earliest Christians the life, work, teachings and personality of the Lord were the chief objects of contemplation, even as they are to the Angels of Heaven. In later ages these were obscured by the idea of a vicarious atonement by the passion on the cross. In view of these evidences, the Callistine portrait certainly seems to be of unrivalled antiquity among the likenesses of Christ. "But," it has been argued, "how can it be known whether the Lord in His human really resembled the type under which He has been represented in this or any other portrait? The Apostles were ignorant fishermen, and not portrait painter. No portraits of Christ are mentioned in the Gospels, the Acts, or the Epistles. The Apostles would have discountenanced any such portraits, as possibly tending towards the worship of an image. Christ was Divine, and the Divine cannot be depicted, etc., etc.

     It is objections and doubts such as these that Sir Wyke Bayliss sets his face against and effectually disproves with solid facts and incontrovertible logic in his inspiring and charming volume.

     The author does not pretend that any of the portraits of Christ represents the Lord in His Divinity, but only in His humanity, a humanity which is not only an historical fact, but is also the fundamental or basic principle of Christian faith. Christ was a man seen by men. The very reason for the Incarnation was that He might render himself visible. Whether clouded by the anguish of the Cross, or shining as the Sun in the Transfiguration, the beloved features had been seen and studied by the disciples until indelibly impressed upon their hearts and memory.

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And not only the twelve and the seventy had seen Him, but He was seen also by thousands of others--Jews and Gentiles--in the land of Palestine, and many of these afterwards became Christians.

     Is it creditable, then, that none of these should have made an effort to draw the outlines of the face which t, them was the face of faces, the face "full of grace and truth," "the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" (2 Cor. 4:6), the face which John promised that they should see when Christ had made His Second Advent?

     And when the Apostles and disciples carried the Message of joy to distant lands, how could they have rebuked or left unsatisfied the innocent request for a description of the personal appearance of the Master? How did He look? What were His features? What kind of eyes did He have; and hair, and beard, and nose and mouth? The disciples would have been stonyhearted, indeed, had they not answered these questions. Nay, they would describe, unasked, this dearest of all their memories. And if it is certain that they would describe the Lord by word of mouth, why not also, far more effectively, by pen or brush, according to their ability. And is it to be supposed that none of those, who were able to write the Gospel and Epistles in faultless Greek, would be able, also, to draw a tolerably correct outline of the face of their dearest Friend, whose face they had watched for years? And finally, since it is an indisputable fact that likenesses of the Lord did circulate among the Christians from the earliest times--no matter by whom they were drawn--can we imagine that these would be sanctioned or tolerated by those who had seen Him, or who had heard Him described from authoritative sources, unless these portraits on the whole were true to life?

     The evidence, therefore, is overwhelmingly in favor of the verisimilitude of the type or typical Likeness of the Lord, which, throughout all the ages, has survived unchanged to the present day. Can we not see the hand of Providence in the preservation of the well-known features of Him who became Flesh and lived and died for us on the earth,--of Him who was portrayed by the earliest Christians in their first hidden meeting places,--whose Likeness was drawn in Pictures of stone in the basilicas of the Dark Ages,--whose features inspired a Raphael, a Michael Angelo, a Titian? What was the purpose and meaning of all this, if not to hand over, undefiled and unchanged, His real image and features to the New and Everlasting Church whose fundamental and essential life rests upon the faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, as the one and only God, VISIBLE in the Form and Substance which He assumed and glorified on earth!

     The reading of Rex Regum has been a joy and a source of ultimate strengthening of faith to us, and we earnestly recommend it to our readers. It lends itself specially well to reading in the family circle, and is remarkably free from any theologically objectionable features. The author, though evidently a "Churchman" (i. e., Anglican Episcopalian), writes not as such, but as an independent and fearless Christian artist, without sentimentality, yet profoundly devout, tender, and reverential in the presence of his sacred subject.

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     This subject is one of deep interest to the men of the New Church. We are instructed to "think of the Lord from His Essence, and from this, of His Person," (A. R. 611), and not vice versa, but this does not mean that we are not to think of His Person, for in that case our faith falls into ruins like a house without its foundations. While here on earth, we cannot form any definite conception of the Lord Jesus Christ, except as He reveals himself in the Word of the New Testament, even though, in the Internal Sense of the Word, we may faintly perceive Him as He appears to the Angels, in the glory and splendor of His Divine Humanity, above the Heavens, in the Sun of the Spiritual World.

     And even there His face and His features are those by which He was known while in this world, for the Glorification does not mean the destruction of the human form, but the infilling of the Divine. Of this we are assured by Swedenborg, who tells us of certain spirits who had seen Him while He was in this world, and who recognized Him in the other world, "and one after another confessed that He was the Lord Himself, and this they confessed before the whole company." (A. C. 7173; S. D. 3292). How, indeed, could they recognize Him, if not by the features with which they had been familiar in this world?

     And Swedenborg himself, who from early youth had known the Likeness of the Lord which is commonly received in the Christian world, similarly identifies this Likeness with the features of Him who revealed Himself "in Person to me His servant." "It was a countenance of a holy mien, and such that it cannot be described: it was also smiling, and I truly believe that such had been His face while He lived on earth." (Book of Dreams, p. 112). "In a dream the Lord was seen by me, with the face and form which He had in the world. It was such that interiorly there was a fulness, and thus such that He could interiorly rule the whole of Heaven....When I awoke, He was till obscurely seen by me, and it was said that He had appeared thus; in a word, He was full of Heaven and the Divine." (Diarium Minus, 4831).

     We should rejoice, therefore, at every step of discovery of Art and Science, which leads us nearer to a Likeness of our Lord, historically and actually more and more correct. That it is allowable for the men of the New Church to look for such a Likeness of the Lord is evident from these words in the True Christian Religion, (n. 296):"Who would not see the enormity of that faith (i. e., the faith in three distinct persons in the Godhead), if it should be exhibited, such as it is, in a picture before his eyes. . . . What wise man, seeing this picture, would not say to himself. 'Oh, what a phantasy.' But he would say otherwise if he should see the picture of one Divine Person, with rays of heavenly light around the head, with this superscription: 'This is our God, at the same time Creator, Redeemer and Regenerator, thus the Saviour.' Would not that man kiss this picture, and carry it home in his bosom, and with the sight of it delight both his own mind, and the minds of his wife and children, and servants?"

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NEW CHURCH JOURNALS 1902

NEW CHURCH JOURNALS              1902

     New-Church Messenger. February 5.-The editorial board has lately been increased by the addition of a number of ladies and gentlemen. Miss M. M. Miller has been appointed News Editor, and has succeeded in parting more variety and interest to this department, to which we are indebted for many news items. Mrs. Grace C. Kempton continues as editor of the "Home Circle,"--a juvenile department which is filled almost entirely by clippings from Old Church journals. The Rev. Frank Sewall still continues as a regular correspondent. but is no longer in charge of the department of "Current Literature."

     February 19.--An original Swedish letter by Swedenborg has been recently discovered, and is advertised for sale by Mr. Albert Bjorck, of Stockholm. It was written to Mr. Zacharias Stromberg, of Amsterdam, in 1722. We have had the opportunity of examining a copy of this letter, which treats entirely of money matters, except at the end, where Swedenborg refers to a recent publication of his on the subject of the Swedish coinage (printed at Stockholm, 1719).

     February 26.--It was rather surprising to see the Messenger reprinting the Rev. James Hyde's communication to the Morning Light, in which he attacks the Swedenborg Scientific Association for proposing to secure copies of Swedenborg's remaining scientific manuscripts. In common fairness to the Association, our contemporary should reproduce also the Reply to Mr. Hyde by the secretary of the publishing committee of the Association. Audi et alteram partem!

     March 5.--The variety of editorial writers in the Messenger makes it difficult to determine just what is the exact position of this journal in respect to many important issues. Thus in regard to the state of the Christian world we find at times the most optimistic utterances, and anon the very opposite. What, for instance, will our "permeationist" brethren think of the editorial on "Our Unthinking Classes and Masses?" Our age is here described as "one of colossal irrationality. The privilege of entering understandingly into the truths of the Temple of Wisdom implies a hitherto unknown license in the Temple of Folly. We have frequently heard it urged in behalf of new ideas that they must be true, because nearly everybody is accepting them. But the wide acceptance of a doctrine by the popular mind is an argument rather against than for its veraciousness. Men are in a new liberty for believing anything they please. On the external plane of natural science they have entered into a great deal of light, because science can be applied to machinery, and so be made profitable in dollars. But on interior planes of thought folly has an immeasurable start in the race with wisdom. Within the century we have seen a world-wide acceptance of spiritism as a substitute for Divine revelation, of an atheistic deduction from the facts of evolution as a philosophy supplanting the truth of a Divine Creation, and of Christian Science enthroned as a religion in place of the Divine principles of repentance and regeneration.

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Until the children of the race are trained to methods of sane and sincere thinking, we must expect successive generations to be victimized by one after another of the innumerable follies that the opened hells of this free day can vomit forth into the hospitable lap of our undiscerning earth." We wish we had space to copy the whole of this editorial, which tells exactly the plain. unvarnished truth.

     Morning Light. February 22.--This number contains a sermon by Rev. J. F. Buss treating of the imaginary heavens at the time of the Last Judgment, and the necessity that many of the good should be separated from these heavens and be hidden in the lower earth, lest they be destroyed by the wicked. After emphasizing the fact that these wicked men were all, while on earth, members and indeed "pillars of the Church," Mr. Buss closes by saying that every member of the New Church who is in evils is doing just what is calculated "to make the Church a mock Church, an organized spiritual hypocrisy upon the earth, so deadly to the souls of men that the Lord may possibly be obliged, in love, to keep His own true children of the 'remnant' in the former Church, out of the New Church, lest they should be seduced by the terrible disharmony which is so easy to be seen in the conduct of some professing New Church men even in the very affairs of the Church itself. It is a question of solemn moment as to whether the slow growth of the New Church which, for fifty years past, we have been, and which we still are deploring, is probably referable to some such use as this." While Mr. Buss, in the above passage, strikingly presents to us our manifest duty to become genuine members of the New Church if we would have that Church remain with us, yet he seems to lose sight of the fact that by the Last Judgment men were enabled to receive Light by which they can be protected from imaginary states if they choose. It is the Divine Truth which rules in and makes the New Church, and, while hypocrites may indeed enter its bounds, yet the Writings are ever open for all who will go thereto for enlightenment and protection against the evils and falses insinuated by the evil. We must remember also that it is from the remnant that the New Church is to be built up, (and, surely, it is from the remnant that it has been built up in the past), and that the continual effort of the Divine Providence is that none shall enter except those who can remain to the end of life. It would. therefore, be more rational to say that the New Church will be taken away from such as persist in their evils, rather than that, because of them, the 'remnant' will be kept away. The Church is the Lord's and we cannot by our own unworthiness prevent its reception by a single man who is truly worthy; it is for us to strive to be worthy ourselves, lest we ourselves be such an "unspeakable enormity" as mock men of the Church.

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"CONCRETE" IN NEW CHURCH EDUCATION 1902

"CONCRETE" IN NEW CHURCH EDUCATION       F. E. WAELCHLI       1902

EDITORS New Church Life.

     In the March Life a correspondent expresses his full agreement with the article on Education which appeared in the January issue, and desires to know what has been and is being done in the Academy Schools in a practical way along the lines indicated, namely, (1) in the reconstruction of the sciences, (2) in educating for heaven, and (3) in educating for a life of use. While it seems to me that the answers to these questions be found in the article referred to, yet as they were evidently not seen, a more particular statement may be of use.

     1. It is asked whether the teachers of the Academy Schools "have achieved the reconstruction of the sciences." We take for granted that by this question is not meant whether they have brought to a conclusion and thus perfected the work of borrowing from the Egyptians vessels of silver and gold and recasting them for the service of the Lord; for everyone at all acquainted with what this work involves is aware that nothing more than a beginning of it can be expected at this early day of the Church. Such a beginning has been made by the teachers in the Academy Schools. Besides, Swedenborg's Scientific Works, which are in themselves a reconstruction of the sciences, are in constant use in these schools. But there is a sense in which it can be said that the teachers of the Academy Schools have achieved a reconstruction of the sciences. It consists in the acknowledgment of God instead of Nature. Where such acknowledgment exists, the quality of the teacher's study and work will be of a totally different character from that which prevails in the world at this day, and this difference will be interiorly present in the least particulars. This is a complete reconstruction.

     2. Your correspondent says: "It is easy to argue that the end of education is heaven, but heaven is a quality of life, not merely a social order in the remote future. So the end of education must be primarily and momentarily a quality of life now to be conceived and sought after. What I look for is a statement in the light of the Church of just what the quality of heaven is which we may now seek and attain, realize, express and exemplify in our present Church life." I doubt whether I comprehend just what is here meant; for the statement looked for is one which could so readily be given by any member of the Church that we feel that there must be something further desired which the above words do not make clear. The statement asked for is this: The life of heaven which the Church individually and collectively must seek is that of love to the Lord and love to the neighbor, as taught in the Doctrines.

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Education for heaven is education for that life. Such education is given in the Academy Schools, and the means by which it is done was pointed out in general in the article in the January Life.

     3. It is further said: "So, too, the end of use. The theoretical and practical questions are merely raised by saying use is the end for this world. The word 'use' stands for a concept that needs to be interpreted and applied in the concrete, before it can be available for practical and theoretical guidance." Pupils in schools do not live the life of use, but are being prepared for that life. This preparation consists principally in instruction concerning the life of use, and concerning the application of things taught to use. Thus the word "use" is interpreted and applied in the concrete, and becomes available for practical and theoretical guidance. Sincerely yours, F. E. WAELCHLI.
LOUISVILLE SOCIETY 1902

LOUISVILLE SOCIETY              1902

EDITORS New Church Life.

     In your February number, in referring to the Louisville New Church Society and its struggles, you say: "For some reason the Board of Missions of the General Convention has refused to extend to the Society the aid which was intended for it by the Dupont Trust ($300 per annum)." This needs correction. The Board has not refused to extend to the Louisville Society the aid provided by Mrs. du Pont's Trust, which declares expressly that the Interest which accrues during the time the Society is without a Pastor shall not be paid to the Society, but shall be added to the principal. From June 1st to December 1st, 1901 (six months), the Interest has been paid to the Society. Let the truth be known. WILLARD H. HINKLEY, Sup't. of Missions.

     The information respecting the Louisville Society, published on p. 110 of the Life, was derived entirely from a letter by the pastor of that Society, appearing in the Messenger for January 1, 1902. Editors.

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Church News 1902

Church News       Various       1902

FROM OUR CORRESPONDENTS.

     Bryn Athyn. Washington's birthday. Feb. 22, was the occasion for a very pleasant musicale, the proceeds of which are for the benefit of our Bryn Athyn orchestra.

     The monthly meeting of the Principia Club, which had to be postponed on account of a very severe blizzard, was held on February twenty-fourth, at eight o'clock, as usual. The first part of the evening was devoted wholly to business, after which a very able paper on the third part of The Worship and Love of God was read by Mr. Alfred Stroh.

     The Civic and Social Club had their annual meeting on March 30. Officers were re-elected.

     During the past two months we have been favored with visits from Mrs. Schott, Miss Macbeth and Mr. R. B. Caldwell, of Pittsburg; Mrs. Ferdinand, of Berlin, Canada, and Mrs. Wager, of Cleveland. L. E. P.

     Philadelphia. The annual meeting of this society was held on March 9th, after services. The treasurer's report was very gratifying. The address of our minister, Rev. Emil Cronlund, presented some interesting thoughts. He said that we have received no new members during the past year, but it is to be hoped that in pursuing the regular uses of the society we have grown stronger In affection for the truth, which is much more important. And yet, we must not let the knowledge that internal growth is our first concern prevent us from presenting the Doctrines to strangers whenever opportunity occurs, and welcoming them at our services; and this from a love of salvation of souls. He spoke also of the preparation for the Sabbath in the six days of labor as corresponding to our preparation, in this life, for heaven. And on the Sabbath day, there should be preparation for worship, which requires being in church before the opening of service, in time to compose the mind and prepare it for receiving the instruction to follow, first in the ultimate truths from the Word, then as revealed in the Writings, and finally as expounded still further in the sermon. We cannot afford to miss any part of the service, for it all leads up to the sermon, as the central point. C. H. E.

     Colchester, England. Since my last communication the Rev. Andrew Czerny has preached for us on Nov. 10 and 24, and Dec. 8, when, by a mutual arrangement with our London friends, he was enabled to spend a week here and be with us at the Children's Christmas party and the New Years's Social. On Dec. 29, when we had our Christmas celebration, the congregation numbered 49 persons. On Jan. 1. the New Year's social was held at Mr. Gill's studio. No effort was spared by our host and hostess to make the occasion one not only of temporary pleasure, but having distinct regard to future use. After a toast to the Church, Mr. Czerny gave a brief address upon the uses of the Specific New Church to the world in general. A desire having been expressed to form a class for the reading of the Doctrines. Mr. Gill kindly offered us the use of his studio for this purpose and for singing practice. We were now introduced by Mr. Gill, aided by lantern screen, to many of the loveliest spots in England and Wales. Next followed a toast to our hosts by our old friend Mr. McQueen, after which social intercourse, games, etc. brought to a close a meeting breathing a strong sphere of affection for the Church and its uses.

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On San. 2 the children's party was held in the "Shaftesbury" hall. The first meeting for Doctrinal reading and singing practice was held on Jan. 9. On Sunday, Jan. 5, the sacrament of the Holy Supper was administered by Mr. Czerny to seventeen communicants, preceeded by an excellent address. F. R. C.

     Middleport. - Sickness, bad weather, and the imminent peril of a flood interfered somewhat with the activity of Church life during the past month. The happy advent of a baby in the minister's family also contributed to this result. There remains to note, however, an interesting Lincoln memorial meeting given by Mrs. Kate McQuigg and Mrs. Julia Allen. Our people are very much at home on such patriotic occasions, and one and all entered into this one with feeling and spirit. Remarks were made, indicating the wonderful operation of the Lord's Providence at certain crises in history, when a leader is needed. After this came readings and reminiscences. Three of the gentlemen present had seen Lincoln and one had heard him make a speech.

     On March 10th Mrs. Samuel Bradbury, who had been ill for some months, passed into the other life. She was seventy-six years old and had long been connected with the Middleport Society. Many of the townspeople were present at the funeral service.

     The day following this, Mr. Klein was called to Athens, thirty miles from here, to deliver the funeral sermon at the burial of Mrs. Hannah Higgins, aged seventy-four, a relative of the late Rev. J. R. Hibbard.

     We are awaiting the opening of the roads, so that some of our Sunday School children from the country, who have been weather-bound, may be with us again. D. H. K.

FROM OUR CONTEMPORARIES.

     UNITED STATES. By a recent fire the English New Church Reading Circle in Manchester, N. H., lost its entire library, books of worship, Bible, and other belongings. As there was no insurance, the members feel their loss as a severe blow, and appeal to the Church at large for donations of books. The German New Church Society in the same city numbers at present forty-five members, and is working successfully under the leadership of Mr. Carl Roth. Rev. William Diehl, of Brooklyn, pays quarterly visits to the Society. Their experience in respect to the Sunday School is similar to that of most societies. A large proportion of those pupils who do not belong to New Church families drop out after attending for two or three years. Where the work of the teachers is not supplemented by New Church home training, the Sunday School can effect but little.

     The society at Contoocook, N. H., is laboring under very peculiar conditions. Though the parish numbers sixty members, only fifteen of these have fully received the Doctrines of the New Church. The others are Episcopalians. Congregationalists, Universalists, Christian Scientists, Theosophists, etc. The Society, therefore, is "the refuge of those discontented with the other denominations in the community, and for those whose chosen denomination is not represented by a society." Nevertheless, there is no prejudice against the New Church on the part of the other churches, even though the pastor, Rev. J B. Spiers, has declined the invitations to exchange pulpits with Baptist and Methodist ministers.

     The Society in Allegheny, Pa., reports that its form of worship calls into use the Word in the original languages, the True Christian Religion in Latin, and the Word in English, each volume reposing on a separate stand. The pastor, Rev. Walter E. Brickman, reads the first lesson from the Letter of the Word and the second lesson from one of the Writings.

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"If this form of service ever gives a shock to devout hearts, the experience has been quite in the nature of a good, spiritual, electric, life-circulating shock."

     The relation of the Writings to the Word, and the best method of distinguishing between the two revelations in the forms of worship, were the chief subjects of discussion at the meeting of the ministers of the Ohio Association, held in Cincinnati, on February 20 and 21. The Rev. Messrs. Mercer and Taylor regularly read lessons from the Writings at the services, and Rev. M. G. Browne, while agreeing that the Writings are Divine Revelation, yet was not willing to use them in the worship unless in connection with the sermon. It was suggested that the Word and the Writings be read from separate desks, to indicate the distinction between them, but to reserve the pulpit for the sermon, which is on still a different plane. The subject of education was also discussed, the speakers being unanimous in urging that education be not confined to the things of this world alone, but that every step in the teaching of natural science be accompanied by the teaching of the spiritual world and life founded on the Word. But such teaching can be given only in the distinctive schools of the New Church.

     Swedenborg's birthday was celebrated by the Society in Indianapolis by supper in the library. Above Swedenborg's portrait was draped a flag of Sweden, while on either side were flags of Holland and England, the countries where the Writings were first published. American flags decorated the walls. The pastor, Rev. W. L. Gladish, spoke on "The New Church." Mr. W. Vondersaar spoke on Swedenborg as viewed by his contemporaries. Mr. W. O. Bates told of visits he had made to places where Swedenborg lived and worked. Mr F. Minger spoke of Swedenborg as a citizen, and Mr. Joseph Bradford read the first part of Bishop Pendleton's paper on "The Relation of Swedenborg's Scientific Works to his Theological Writings." Several appropriate songs were also sung, and the evening was pleasant, instructive and useful to the young and old who were present.

     Mr. Gladish, for the past two months, has been preaching on the duty of New Church men to bring up their children for Heaven, and the means whereby this may be accomplished. Social occasions and instruction are pleasantly combined in the bi-weekly supper meetings, which are preceded by a class for children, and followed by one for adults.

     The Rev. Thomas A. King, on January 26, presented his resignation to the Society at Englewood, Chicago, but was induced to again withdraw it, the Society agreeing to the minister's desire to wear a surplice at the services. The Chicago Tribune of Feb. 7 and 9 publishes some rather startling details respecting the situation in Englewood, but we have heard no confirmation of its reports.

     There is great activity in the Kenwood parish of the Chicago Society this year. The pastor. Rev. E. J. E. Schreck, not only conducts the regular services and the Sunday School, but leads also a Sunday afternoon class for young men, and, at different days in the week, presides at a doctrinal class, a teachers' meeting, a children s class in Hebrew, a mother's class and a children's class at each end of the extensive parish. His hands are certainly full.

     CANADA. The following curious item appeared in the Daily Star of Toronto, Ont., on February 27:

     "Swedenborgianism occupied the attention of the Toronto Ministerial Association at the regular meeting held in the parlors of the Y. M. C. A. this morning. The philosophy of these mystics entered into the discussion of the gentlemen of the cloth because a Swedenborgian pastor has applied for admission to the membership of the Ministerial Association.

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     "At the last meeting of the association President J. F. Ockley and Rev. George Webber were appointed a committee to enquire into the fitness of receiving the brother, and this morning when the matter was brought up Mr. Webber rose and emphatically stated that had he been at the meeting when his name was put on the Committee of Investigation he would without delay have
enlightened the brethren as to what the teachings of Emmanuel Swedenborg really were.

     "Mr. Webber then explained that it was out of the pale of evangelistic teaching, as accepted by all the evangelistic Churches in Christendom.

     "'What are the teachings?'

     "Of this no one seemed sure, and it was decided to hunt through the files and archives to see just what evangelistic Christendom would stand for.

     "Meanwhile the entrance of the Swedenborgian to the circle of the cloth is in status quo."

     Some curiosity has been expressed as to who this "Swedenborgian pastor" in Toronto may be,--the Rev. Frank L. Higgins or the Rev. E. S. Hyatt, but we are privately informed that it is not the latter gentleman. The decision to find out "just what evangelistic [Evangelical] Christendom would stand for," if honestly pursued, would prone an apple of discord in any mixed "Ministerial Association."

     GREAT BRITAIN. The recent history of the Society at Blackburn is a somewhat remarkable one. Although without a minister for the past ten years, the members have kept up the work of the Church, and have also erected a new Church building at a cost of L2,500, the whole of which sum, with the exception of L400 still owing to the Conference, has been raised by subscriptions and the proceeds of two bazaars. The second of these was held on Jan. 30. During this long period the pulpit has been occupied by members of the congregation, and, occasionally, by a visiting minister.

     It has been found necessary to close the "mission" at Bromley, Kent, which has been maintained for the past ten years under the leadership of Mr. Isaac Gunton. The dosing service was held on Feb. 9, the congregation then numbering 23 persons.

     In our Nov. issue we noted the fact that Rev. J. Deans was making an earnest effort to revive the Society at Bury, which had ceased to holy services. The Church was reopened by Mr. Deans on Oct. 6; and since then he has preached there regularly every week. We now learn that, after five months of this continuous effort, "the cause at Bury has again collapsed."

     Professor A. H. Sexton has been chosen leader of the Cathedral Street Society, Glasgow, the pastorate of which was resigned by Rev. J. F. Buss at the beginning of the present year. The appointment appears to be only a temporary one, as we read that "the Society hopes, with the continued assistance of outside friends who are interested in its welfare, soon to be in a position to engage a resident minister."

     Quite recently a new Society, or, rather, "congregation," was organized in Glasgow, at Hillhead, which is at the west end of the city. The movement was inaugurated by a meeting called for Jan. 30, by "advertisement in the leading Glasgow papers, and by a circular sent to known New Church men." Between 40 and 50 were present at this meeting, including members of the Queen's Park and Cathedral Street Societies. The meeting was opened by Rev. J. J. Woodford, the President of Conference; Mr. Andrew Eadie was then invited to take the chair. The harmony of the proceedings appears to have been somewhat disturbed by a speech made by one of the members of the Cathedral Street Society to the effect that while notice of the meeting had been sent to all the other New Church people in Glasgow, the members of the Cathedral Street Society had been entirely ignored.

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The Chairman expressed his regret that that Society had been overlooked, and pointed out that the meeting had been called by public advertisement in the newspapers. He then offered some remarks "with a view to allaying any feeling that this new movement was inimical to either the Queen's Park or the Cathedral Street Societies." He did not believe that the extension of the New Church in the West End could be in any way inimical to them. In the course of the subsequent discussion, it was stated that a committee of the Scottish Association some time before had considered the establishment of a "mission" in the West End, but after due consideration the matter had been dropped. Eventually, the meeting, by a vote of 22 to 1, approved of the proposal to establish the mission, and a committee of five was appointed to have charge of such arrangements as might be necessary. Prof. Sexton, the leader of the Cathedral Street Society, was the Chairman of this committee, and Mr. Eadie was one of its members. Nineteen people signed as being willing to co-operate in the organization of the proposed mission, and subscriptions were promised amounting to L111. At the adjourned public meeting on Feb. 14, a resolution was adopted recommending the organization forthwith of the "Hillhead Society of the New Jerusalem Church." The same committee was then continued. The third meeting was held on Feb. 1, and was attended by about 35 supporters of the movement. The proceedings were opened with a short religious service by Rev. J. F. Buss. After consideration, it was decided to defer the adoption of the committee's recommendation for the formation of a Society, and that for three months the movement should be carried on as 'The Hillhead Congregation. Church of the New Jerusalem.' The committee, with Mr. Eadie as Chairman and Mr. A. McLaughlin in place of Prof. Sexton, was then reappointed to carry on the movement for twelve months. A unanimous call to Rev. J. F. Buss to take ministerial charge of the movement for the same period was "heartily accepted by him." The Rev. C. A. Hall, of Paisley, war; present at this meeting and spoke in warm support of the movement. Mr. Buss entered upon his new duties on Feb. 23, when public services were instituted at the Hillhead Burgh Hall.

     A cheerful and optimistic tone characterizes the report of the annual meeting of the Camberwell Society, London, which was held on Jan. 17 "A sparse attendance" was held to indicate "the existence of no dissatisfaction with the status quo" and was therefore chronicled "without dismay." The "numerical decline" in the membership of the Society "was accepted as in no degree representing real decadence," and it was believed that "the Society, though not making appreciable advance, is fully holding its position."

     Prof. Baynham, of the New Church College, in a lecture on "Shakespeare and Swedenborg," delivered at Camden Road, on Jan. 22, endeavored to show that the great dramatist was "inspired," and that under his inspiration he wrote "a great deal of which he could not have known the meaning." "Many quotations were then made from Swedenborg and Shakespeare, covering the whole range of life, showing a remarkable likeness in thought." We have had occasion before now to call attention to the tendency of some New Church men to see only the inspiration of genius in the Divinely revealed Writings. It is far more surprising to hear that there are New Church men who will take such a position, than it is to learn that in many cases there is an agreement between the moral truths and poetic imaginings of Shakespeare and the spiritual rational truths of Revelation.

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     The Rev. E. C. Newall, who for the past nine years has ministered to the Dalton Society, commenced his pastorate at Radcliffe on Feb. 2.

     The history of the Salford Society reveals the lamentable, though by no means unique decline of a once flourishing Society. It was organized in 1811 with Rev. Robert Hindmarsh as minister. Four years later, when it built a new place of worship, its membership was reported as 154. In 1817 with about the same membership, the congregations averaged about 200. Mr. Hindmarsh retired from the pastorate in 1823, when he was presented by the Society with a silver cup inscribed, "To the Rev. Robert Hindmarsh, the undaunted Champion of the New Church." Since that time the Society has been ministered to by Rev. D. Howarth for 72 years, Rev. W. Westall for 12 years, and Rev. H. Cameron for 7 years, besides by one or two other ministers for very short periods; but for the past two years it has been without a minister. But, tempora mutantur. What was once a flourishing Society taught by the first and foremost minister of the New Church, is now a small Society of 66 members without a minister, and even this number by no means indicates its real weakness. "In looking over the records of the Society one is struck with the large number of names once familiar in the Church as household words which we no longer meet with in connection with the Salford Society. Some of the families have died out. Some of them are connected with other New Church Societies, but 'the greater portion have drifted away from the New Church." The present active members are "young people, many of whom have been brought into the Church through the instrumentality of the Sunday School." Of late a great effort has been made to revive the Society. The Conference missionary. Rev. J. Deans, paid it an extended visit of five months, during which he preached every Sunday. Before his arrival "fears were entertained as to the future of the Society," "but it is now felt that Salford is on the right track." Negotiations are on foot to place the Society together with the neighboring Society at Rhodes under the care of one minister.

     SWEDEN. The Christmas number of a Gottenburg Journal contains a large portrait of Swedenborg, together with a Swedish translation of Prof. Odhner's sketch, "A Visit to Swedenborg." The translator, we suppose, is the Rev. J. E. Rosenqvist. The journal publishes also Pastor Manby's translation of Miss E. E. Plummer's Ode to Swedenborg: "Thou Prophet and Seer." The Swedish version is even more beautiful than the original.

     The annual celebration of Swedenborg's birthday seems now to have become a well established custom in Sweden. This year the two New Church Societies in Stockholm united in a public celebration at the Academy of Sciences, where the Rev. C. J. N. Manby also delivered a well-attended lecture on "the significance of Swedenborg to the universal world." Among those present was the "Rector Magnificus," Prof. Sahlin. The proceedings were well reported in the daily papers.

     AUSTRIA. The "Verein der Neuen Kirche" in Vienna, which at one time had been led astray by Albert Artope, has now definitely returned to the New Church. At the annual meeting, on January 19th, the forty-seven members of the Society formally signed a declaration of faith in the Creed of the New Church, and a resolution was unanimously passed looking to the merging of this society into the other society in Vienna which for many years has been under the pastoral charge of Rev. Fedor Goerwitz.

     FRANCE. Ever since the issue of a small book entitled Rome from the inside, or the Priest's revolt, a movement has been in progress to make the Writings of Swedenborg more widely known among priests and pastors in France.

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With this object the London Swedenborg Society has put advertisements in all the Paris papers offering the free gift of Le Boys des Guays' translation of The Brief Exposition and the Doctrine of the Lord.

     It may not be known to all of our readers that there are in Paris two distinct societies of the New Church, the one worshiping at Rue Thouin under the leadership of M. Ferdinand Hussenet, and the other, the "Societe Swedenborgienne de France," being led by Rev. J. Decembre. Of this latter society very little has been known, but we now learn from a report in the Monatblatter that it is a private association of fifty-two members. After a long series of trying experiences the members have become convinced that an attempt, at present, to establish public worship would not he crowned with success. The meetings are therefore held privately, and great caution is practiced in the admission of new members. After a person has been proposed for membership, he is required to pass through a course of doctrinal instruction, and if he has persevered in this course for one year, he is admitted to Baptism and the Holy Supper. Two meetings are held each month, one for worship, and one for the instruction of newcomers. It is not known what are the differences between the two societies in Paris; the movements of the Church in France have always seemed somewhat mysterious to the Anglo-Saxon mind.

     We quote from the New Church Young People's Magazine, the following description, extracted from a private letter, of the services conducted by M. Hussenet at Rue Thouin, Paris: "I paid a visit to the New Church in Paris last Sunday. It is very small,--like a meeting room, with a few chairs in the centre and some benches around. About twenty people attended, a fair proportion being of old men and, women. The choir consisted of five or six voices. Three or four young fellows sat together, whom I took to be students, for the Church is situated in the Latin Quarter. The service commenced with the Lord's Prayer, then the minister read the Commandments. After a hymn had been sung, he explained the spiritual sense of the second part of the seventh chapter of Genesis, and then read from one of Swedenborg's works. A chant followed. The sermon was on 'Charity.' Everyone seemed very attentive."

     AFRICA. In our last issue we reprinted from the N. C. Magazine a translation into the Nupe dialect, of a sentence in D. P., 259. In addition to this passage, the Magazine printed a small portion of the "Faith of the New Church," the translations of both the passages being the work of a native African missionary in Nigeria. From the type used by the Magazine a number of copies were printed for distribution in Nigeria "and some were at once sent to the translator, who, in acknowledging, says: 'I recognize what is printed on the card. I shall be most thankful if you will send me more copies, which I will take with me to the Niger.' " He also asks for some of Swedenborg's works, and states that he has some clerical brethren "here and in the Niger" who would gladly accept some from him.

     MAURITIUS. The Society at Port Louis held its Christmas meeting at the Church on Rempert Street. The service was conducted by the President, Mr. August de Chazal, who in his address brought out the spiritual sense involved in the three festivals of the Jewish Church. The congregation numbered about 80, of whom 38 partook of communion.

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Notice 1902

Notice              1902


ANNOUNCEMENTS.




     The Dedication of the new building of the Academy of the New Church, at Bryn Athyn, Pa., will take place on Sunday, April 6, at 10:30 A. M.
Swedenborg Scientific Association 1902

Swedenborg Scientific Association       EUGENE J. E. SCHRECK       1902

The Fifth Annual Meeting of the Swedenborg Scientific Association will be held in the College Building of the Academy of the New Church, Bryn Athyn, near Philadelphia, Pa., on Wednesday and Thursday. May 28th and 29th, 1902. All reports and communications for the meeting should be sent to the undersigned, before May 10th.

     By order of the President. EUGENE J. E. SCHRECK, Secretary, 4210 Ellis Ave., Chicago, Ill, March 20th, 1902.

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DEDICATION OF THE NEW BUILDING OF THE ACADEMY 1902

DEDICATION OF THE NEW BUILDING OF THE ACADEMY              1902

     
NEW CHURCH LIFE.

Vol. XXII.          MAY, 1902.          No. 5.
     THE Dedication of the New School Building of the Academy of the New Church was celebrated on Sunday, April 6th, with solemn ceremony and with festivity. Old and young from far and near had come to join in the celebration, almost every center of the General Church being represented, and the occasion served to create a blessed sphere of rejoicing and thanksgiving which impressed indelibly on the hearts and minds of all present the glory of the uses of the Academy and the eternal nature of its ends and purposes. For these ends look only to co-operation with the Lord in the establishing of His Church again upon earth, and this in the only real and effective way, the education of a priesthood to serve the Lord in His work of salvation, and the education of all born in the Church or brought to its doors.

     The deep sincerity of purpose of those to whom the Lord has committed the performance and cherishing of this Divine and eternal use, and the hearty and loving co-operation throughout the Church, was never more surely felt than on this day which marks the beginning of a new period in the growth of their work, the formal dedication of the first monument and memorial, since the beginning of the Academy, to the labor and effort, to the toil and thought of those who planned and built, and to the earnest love for its uses which has prompted the donor.

     Weeks of patient endeavor had brought to completion the details of the building, and the day set for its consecration to its uses found everything in readiness to welcome the guests.

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     The Sabbath as a day of rest from labor, and as marking the end of an old state and the beginning of a new, was particularly appropriate as a day for the Dedication. The imposing and impressive religious services in the morning were conducted by Bishop Pendleton, assisted by the Rev. Messrs. Price, Odhner, Acton and Doering. The order of worship was selected from a new Liturgical Service, and this, with its new music, sung to the inspiring accompaniment of the pipe organ, and in the soft light of the new chapel, aided much in an ultimate manner to elevate our minds to Him Who has come "to make all things new," and Who has given us in His own time these new means of approaching Him in worship and thanksgiving.

     The text of the Bishop's sermon was from Isaiah xlii, 3: "A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment into truth." This discourse is printed elsewhere in this Journal.

     The singing of "Jerusalem, the Golden," followed the sermon, and then the formal Dedication was introduced by the reading of Psalm cxxvii, by Rev. Mr. Price. "Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it; except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh, but in vain."

     After introductory remarks, in which he spoke of the two-fold uses of the Church, the uses of worship and evangelization, as the means whereby the Lord is present with the men of the Church and conjoined with them by the Word and instruction therefrom; and of the formation of the Academy for the purpose of performing the spiritual uses of the Church, the Bishop said: "In order that the uses of the Church may take on ultimate form, and actually exist among men, it is necessary that buildings be erected, and duly consecrated and set apart, formally dedicated and devoted, to the end and purpose for which the Church exists.

     "The house in which we are now assembled has been built by a member of the Church in this place, who has been moved by the merciful Providence of the Lord to do this work in order that the Academy of the New Church may have a suitable home and abiding place for its uses. The house has been completed and furnished, and is already occupied by those who are in the active performance of the uses of the Academy; and now, in order that the building may be solemnly dedicated and set apart for these uses, it is of order, and at the same time the desire of the donor, that this property be formally presented to the Academy of the New Church."

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     Mr. John Pitcairn then came forward, and in presenting the Deed of the building and the land on which it stands spoke as follows:--

     "The Academy of the New Church was formally organized on the 19th day of June, 1876, and among the uses to be undertaken the following were announced:

     "'To establish a Theological School for the preparation of young men for the ministry; to promote the knowledge and acknowledgment of the Lord in His Second Coming in the Revelation given by Him in the Writings of Swedenborg, and by every available means to further the establishment of the New Church as the Lord's Kingdom on earth.

     "It is the purpose of the Academy, as the Divine Providence opens the way, to establish a university for the elementary and academic education of the youth of the Church, in the Doctrines and Principles of the New Church, in the Languages, ancient and modern, and in the Sciences.'

     "From the beginning it has been the desire and the hope of the founders of the Academy, in order the more fully to carry out its objects, to have a building adequate to the uses intended. In the fullness of time the Lord provided the men and the means that made this buildings possible, and it now becomes my duty and my privilege to deliver to you, as the representative and President of the corporation of the Academy of the New Church, the deed for this property, free of encumbrance, covering the land and the buildings erected thereon, to be used for the purposes and uses defined in the Charter of that body; and may the Lord bless and prosper the Academy of the New Church, and may the men engaged in its uses ever be faithful to their trust."

     In receiving the instrument, the Bishop said:

     "In behalf of the Academy of the New Church, and as the official representative of its organization, I do now receive this Deed, as delivered by you, which conveys the land and the buildings erected thereon to the Academy of the New Church, to be held by this body and devoted to the uses for which the body is organized. And we do give thanks to the Lord, the Giver of all good, that in His merciful bounty and provision for the uses of His Church, it has seemed good in His sight that the Academy should be endowed with so efficient an instrument for its service and work, a building so well adapted to advance and conduct to a successful issue the ends and purposes for which the body exists. And may the Lord bless the Academy, and give her increase in the use of this gift; and may her members and workers he ever faithful and loyal to the trust that has been imposed upon them; and may the Lord bless the donor; and give him the reward of the love of use, now and forever. Amen."

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     And handing the document to Mr. C. Hj. Asplundh, he continued:

     "And I now deliver this Deed into your custody as Treasurer and Business Manager of the Academy, to be kept and guarded by you, not only for its value as a legal document, but as a sign and pledge of the blessing of the Lord in the perpetuation of the uses of the Academy, which He, in His good Providence, has this day furnished us."

     After a prayer of earnest thanksgiving and the singing of a doxology, the Bishop retired within the Chancel, and said:

     "This house has been built, and presented as a free will offering to the Lord, for the uses of this body of the Lord's New Church, in order that the work of the Academy may be more efficiently performed in a home adapted and fitted to its needs. Extensive grounds have been given, a large and convenient library room, suitable rooms and offices for the publication and business uses of the Academy, rooms for study, commodious class rooms for the College, Seminary, and Theological School, an art room, a gymnasium--all have been prepared and furnished in order that the use of charity which the Academy has set before itself may be more fully ultimated in the natural world, and yield an ever more abundant increase.

     "And finally this Chapel has been built and furnished for the worship and religious instruction of the pupils in the Academy Schools, in order that the young may receive the benefits and blessings that are connected in the ministrations of the offices of the Church; in it is placed the Auditorium, with its comfortable seating and efficient lighting, the beautiful window with appropriate designs in the rear of the hall, this outer Chancel, with its seats for the Faculty and Corporation; the organ, for the worship of praise; the prayer desks; the Pulpit, for instruction and exposition, and the Desk for the reading of the Word of the Lord.

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     "And this inner Chancel has been built and furnished for the more sacred presence of the Lord. Here is placed the Sacred Repository for the Word of the Lord, the two altars of worship, the one for Baptism and the other for Holy Supper; and the recesses on either side of the Repository for copies of the Holy Word and the Writings to be used in worship; also, the sacred vessels and other appliances of worship to be brought out and used in the administration of the holy offices of the Church.

     "Here the bishop in charge, and his assistants, clothed in their official robes, are to minister in the uses of worship, and teach the young the truths of the Divine Word which are to fit and prepare them for life in the world, and which are also to lead them into the Church and finally into heaven.

     "And now, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, the God of heaven and earth, the Saviour of the world, the Founder and Builder of the Church, in obedience to the laws of His Divine Order, and in the presence of this Assembly, I do declare that this building is set apart and dedicated to the service of the Lord, in the spiritual uses of charity for which the Academy of the New Church has been organized; this Chapel to the uses of piety and worship; these school rooms and these offices to the uses of instruction and for the executive functions of the Body. And may the Lord bless this building, these grounds, this chapel, the rooms for study and instruction, the offices, and all their furnishings--let all be consecrated to the service of the Lord in their uses. And may the Lord's blessing rest upon the uses that are to be done here; upon the priests who are to minister in those uses; upon their associated teachers; upon all who labor here; upon the pupils who are to assemble to receive spiritual ministrations in this house; upon the members of the corporation of the Academy, by whose efficient administration these instrumentalities have been provided; upon the people who are to co-operate in the work done here; upon the General Church of the New Jerusalem for whose spiritual interests this house is to be instrumental; and upon all who are to receive of the offices of the Church to be administered in this building--upon all these may the blessing of the Lord rest and abide, in time and to eternity; and blessed be His Holy Name forevermore. Amen."

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     A prayer and the benediction now followed, and while the congregation sang a doxology the Bishop and ministers retired.
BRUISED REED 1902

BRUISED REED        PENDLETON       1902

     A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench; He shall bring forth judgment into truth. Isaiah xlii, 3.
     A bruised read shall He not break, and smoking flax shall He not quench, until He shall bring forth judgment into victory. Matt. Xii, 20.

     * * * * * * * *

     The Prophets throughout treat of the Lord's coming into the world to save the human race, which was to be effected by the Divine work of Redemption, by the glorification of His Human, and by the establishment of a new spiritual Church upon earth.

     An example of this teaching concerning the Lord is to be found in the forty-second chapter of Isaiah, and especially in the words which have been chosen for consideration on this occasion. In these words we are first told what the Lord will not do when He comes,--He will not break the bruised reed, nor will He quench the smoking flax. And then it is said what He will do,--He will bring forth judgment into truth, or, as in Matthew, where this prophecy is quoted,--He will bring forth judgment into victory. And the inference is clearly put forth, that the Lord when He comes, finds man doing the very things which He Himself will not do, and not doing the things which He does and is to do. Man is breaking the bruised reed; man is quenching the smoking flax; and man is not bringing forth judgment into truth, or into victory. And because man is not doing these things,--is not supporting and strengthening the bruised reed--is not kindling and fanning the fire smoldering in the flax--is not bringing forth judgment that truth and victory may obtain among men,--the Lord Himself therefore comes to do them; for it is necessary that they should be done.

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     Man, in a larger sense, is the Church; and it is the Church that is not doing the things which are here pointed out. The Jewish church cared not to do them; and the Christian church which followed soon began to break the bruised and tottering reed and to quench the smoldering fires, and became utterly indifferent to judgment, truth, or victory. But the Lord comes neither to break nor quench, but to build and restore, that judgment and truth may prevail over all the power of the enemy who wishes for nothing but to extinguish and destroy.

     When it is said that the Lord when He comes will not break the bruised reed, nor quench the smoking flax, but will bring forth judgment into truth or victory, the words in their literal meaning convey only a general idea to the human mind as to what it really is that the Lord intended to do when He came into the world,--simply this, that He would tenderly and gently nourish and support, strengthen and sustain, the reed that is bruised,--that He would keep alive the fire that is kindled amid the smoking flax, and that He would continue to do this until judgment takes place, until truth is established and He has gained the victory over the forces that oppose His will and endeavor to destroy that which He would keep alive. It is evident that something spiritual is meant, for the word spoken is the Word of the Lord, who never speaks but to that which is ever-enduring and eternal,--never to the things which are subject to the conditions of time and space, or of natural life in time and space.

     The words are words spoken in parable and metaphor, according to the law of correspondence of natural things with spiritual, in which the spiritual idea is so veiled that the natural man may not understand it; but which is to be understood by the spiritual man, when the time for the unveiling has come and he is ready to humbly look upon the mysteries which are behind the veil, where the Lord dwells in the holy of holies.

     The veil has now been lifted, and he who walks or runs may read, but not he who still creeps upon the earth and continues to lick the dust thereof. He who will not rise, cannot; and the power cannot be given him; but to such as can, the interior Word is now revealed, and it is the Divine will that every humble and repentant heart may learn and receive.

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     The words of the text are spiritual in their duality and essence, and in general treat of the religious education of man which the Lord was to inaugurate when He came into the world, beginning with man in his cradle, going with him through life in the world, with him after death, through the world of spirits and with him into heaven; exhibiting the means by which he is led from infancy to old age and introduced into eternal life; showing what he is led out of and protected from, until from a man in the world he becomes an angel of heaven; how he is led and protected while yet a little child and only in the sensual truth of the Word; how he is led and protected in the age of youth and early manhood when he is in the region of the natural truth of the Word; how he is led and protected afterward when he has been introduced into the domain of spiritual truth by means of natural intelligence; and how finally the victory is gained by the Lord, for man and through man, over the infernal forces which oppose, and man takes his place among the redeemed, in the home already prepared for him.

     It will be impossible in the space of a single discourse to unfold, even in general, all that is involved in these words, so inexhaustible is the Word of God; for in it is contained the love and wisdom of the angels, which is the Divine Love and Divine Wisdom of the Lord in Heaven. But let us endeavor to obtain a general view which will exhibit to us the subject of the sensual truth of the Word, how this becomes natural truth, and finally spiritual truth; that is, how man, from the ignorance of infancy, when he is wholly in sensual truth, progresses through the intervening stages to the state of intelligence and wisdom in which the angels of heaven are.

     The Divine Truth of the Word is of many degrees, and the degrees are degrees of accommodation to every state of reception, from the highest or first to the lowest or last, in order that every man may be saved, each according to his state. The Divine Truth, in the highest or supreme, is that which proceeds immediately from the Lord, and is above the heavens, and being infinite cannot come into the perception of any angel. But the Divine Truth in its first degree of accommodation and reception, is that which inflows into the third or inmost heaven, and which is received and perceived by the angels of that heaven; this Divine Truth is called Divine celestial truth, and is the celestial sense of the Word; from it the celestial angels have their wisdom; and men in whom the celestial degree is opened are in the light of that wisdom.

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The Divine Truth in the second degree of descent and accommodation, is that which inflows into the second or middle heaven, and comes into the perception of the angels who are in that heaven; this Divine Truth is called Divine spiritual truth, and is the spiritual sense of the Word; from it the spiritual angels have their intelligence; and men in whom the spiritual degree is opened, are in the light of that intelligence. The Divine Truth in the third degree of descent and accommodation, is that which inflows into the ultimate, or lowest, or first heaven, and comes into the perception of the angels who are in that heaven; this Divine Truth is called Divine celestial-natural and Divine spiritual-natural truth, and constitutes the Divine celestial and spiritual natural sense of the Word; from it the angels of that heaven have their science, or spiritual-natural understanding of the Word, and men in whom the corresponding degree is opened are in the light of that understanding or science. But the Divine Truth in the fourth degree of accommodation, is that which inflows into men in the world?--especially into those in whom the former or heavenly degrees are not opened, or not yet opened,- -and comes into the sphere of their natural perception. This Divine Truth is called Divine Truth natural, and the ultimate, or lowest, or most external of it, is called Divine Truth sensual, and constitutes the natural and literal senses of the Word. From this degree of the Word men are in science or natural intelligence. These degrees of the Divine Truth proceeding from the Lord, in its descent and accommodation, constitute the Word of God; and the ultimate, or lowest, or last, is the Divine Sensual of the Lord, and is the Word such as it is in the sense of the letter, and is for little children and for those who are very simple, in whom no higher degrees than the sensual have as yet been opened. This Divine Truth is what is signified by a reed or cane, in the Word. (A. E., 627.)

     There are three general classes of those who are simple, or who are in sensual truth: First, the Gentiles, who have not immediate revelation and do not know that the Lord has come into the world; second, the simple in the Christian world, who are in obedience to what is taught as true, but are as yet without any rational understanding of the things of the Word; third, all infants and little children, wherever they may be.

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The text has application to either of these classes, or all of them; but we shall for the most part confine ourselves to a consideration of the subject as bearing on the state of infancy and childhood, and the religious growth of the mind, from early childhood to adult age.

     The first stage of sensual truth in childhood, or the first state of religious knowledge, is signified by the bruised reed, which it is said the Lord will not break. The second state, when affection has been enkindled, but the child is still in the appearance of truth, is signified by the smoking flax which He will not quench; the third state, which is a state of spiritual intelligence, is signified by judgment which He will bring forth into truth, or into victory.

     Sensual truth is the first truth which is insinuated into the child by the Lord, by the medium of its parents, through the senses of hearing and sight. The child as yet has no rational thought, no understanding, no interior judgment, no perception; it takes things as they appear to be, and hence the truth which enters at this time is called sensual truth. All the ideas in this state are sensual images; and in order that these may be impressed upon the mind, the Gentile needs his idols, that he may see the actual Image of his God, thus stimulating something of thought and affection; nor is the state essentially different with our children; for in order that sensual truth may be insinuated they also have need of images in the form of pictures, together with the relation, by the parent, of the story of the picture,--in other words, by the exhibition of what are called Bible pictures and the telling of the Bible stories, all leading to and exhibiting to view the story of the Lord as a man on earth among men. The child thus learns that the Lord is a Man, having been seen by men as a Man in the world,-and that He is now seen by the angels of heaven; by this he learns also that there is another world, or a life after death, or a heaven where the Lord is, which is like this world but more beautiful, where men and women live who are called angels and who are much more happy and better than we; and that all who are good in this world go there and become angels after death but that those who live wicked lives will go to another place called Hell, where they live unhappily forever.

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They also learn that all things which they see above and around them have been created by the Lord, who has all power, and that everything has been created for some use. These and similar very simple, very general but at the same time fundamental truths, are impressed upon the mind of the child, and are called sensual truths; not because they are in themselves sensual, for they are spiritual, supreme, Divine; but they so appear to the child, because associated with sensual and visible images, and because they are minded with many fallacies of the senses which must afterward be removed to make way for the state of intelligence and wisdom, the ideas of which will always be based upon the sensual images of truth received in early childhood. Without these early sensual impressions of truth man could not possibly be saved.

     This state is expressed in the text by the phrase a bruised reed. A staff, rod, or sceptre, signifies the same as the hand, namely, power: for the signification or correspondence of anything mentioned in the Word is indicated by the use of that thing; and the use of a staff, rod, or sceptre, or the hand, is power, or the exercise of power. Natural power corresponds to spiritual power. Natural power corresponds to spiritual power, for it is spiritual power taking on a natural form. Spiritual power is the power of spiritual truth against evils and falses, and power in the performance of spiritual uses, all of which relate to eternal life. Such power is represented and signified by a staff, rod, sceptre, or the hand. Now if a reed were used as a staff very little power could be exercised by it; in the Word therefore it represents any state wherein there is but little spiritual power, a state of feebleness as to spiritual things. Such is the state of sensual truth, or the truth of the literal sense of the Word, when unillumined by the light of the internal sense; such is the state of infancy and childhood, wherein there is nothing but sensual truth, or appearances of truth from the letter of the Word. There is some power, because there are a few most simple and most general truths from the spiritual sense present in it, examples of which we have already given. But the power is feeble because even these simple genuine truths are seen in sensual light; rational understanding from a spiritual origin being as yet absent, and the state a state of great obscurity. Infants are indeed protected, but by no power that is their own.

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     To indicate how feeble the state is, how helpless the child is both naturally and spiritually, the phrase bruised reed is used. The infant is weak and helpless even at the best, even the infant in the Golden Age, but much more so now on account of the hereditary evil into which man is born. The inherited inclination to evil, which exists at this day, is so great that man is born into the most dense and dark ignorance; for all ignorance is from evil, and the state of Hell is the state of blackest night because of the evil which reigns; and so the child at this day, on account of hereditary evil, cannot but be born into a state of complete ignorance, which is not the case with any animal, for animals are born into the knowledge of their life. There is but little power in a state of ignorance; power is in knowledge, the knowledge of the truth; where this is absent, power also is absent. This is the reason the child is called a "bruised reed," but a reed which-we are told--the Lord will not break; if it be broken it will be by man, not by the Lord.

     The term "bruised" carries more than this,--it carries with it the acknowledgment of their weak and feeble condition; for the work here translated "bruised" is elsewhere rendered "contrite." A contrite heal: and mind is one that is conscious of and acknowledges its own sin,--that of itself it has no power to remove its sin, but that the power of removal is of the Lord alone. The child acknowledges its own feebleness daily as indicated by the continued asking its parent for food, physical and mental; there is no more affecting picture of helplessness and the acknowledgment of it, in all the world. But this acknowledgment of the child is as yet most external, most simple, most general, most feeble; there is but little power for spiritual good in such acknowledgment: still there is some, and such as it is it becomes the beginning and the basis of the profound acknowledgment that may exist in adult life,--acknowledgment of one's own feebleness in spiritual things; for man never becomes, of and from himself, any stronger than he was when an infant; from himself he continues to be a bruised reed; but the ability to see this increases with his spiritual growth, and so he continually grows stronger, not from himself but from the Lord. A bruised reed will He not break...until He bring forth judgment into victory.

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     Power increases according to the growth of affection; there is no power in truth, or the knowledge of truth, without the affection of truth. The affection of truth is as it were the kindling of a fire in the mind; from the fire is flame, and from the flame is light, and in light there is strength. Where there is but little fire there is as yet no flame, only smoke. The fire must be intense and strong to kindle the smoke into flame, that light may shine. Such is the state of childhood, a little fire is kindled if the child is affected by the stories and imagery of the Word; but there is no flame as yet, only smoke, only dense obscurity of the understanding; the child is affected by the most simple and general truths of the Word, but it has no light of its own,--its light is the light that shines in the minds of its parents, to which it is blindly obedient. He is as the smoking flax, which we are told the Lord will not quench until He bring forth judgment into truth, and into victory. Man may quench and extinguish, but the Lord kindles a fire that is to burn into eternal life.

     Flax, being the bark of a plant and used for the clothing of the body, represents the external truth of the Word, which invests and clothes internal truth. The external truth which flax represents is the natural or sensual truth of the literal sense, which clothes and covers the spiritual truth of the internal sense. The child is in this literal, external, or sensual truth: and the truth in which the child is, is the flax that is said to be smoking, because by judicious training, from a love of the child's spiritual good, a little fire of affection has been enkindled, which the fervent parent prays that it may no more go out, forever. The Lord have mercy upon us, and ever inspire our hearts with this prayer.

     The Lord does not break the bruised reed, nor quench the smoking flax. We read that the principles which a man imbibes in childhood, the Lord never breaks but bends; if they are things in which he places sanctity and are not contrary to Divine and natural order, but in themselves indifferent, the Lord leaves them, and suffers him to remain in them. (A. C., 1255.) That is, he is allowed to remain in them until he can be led out of them in freedom according to the laws of order. We also read that those things which are implanted in infancy as holy, the Lord never breaks but bends, unless they be contrary to order. (A. C., 2180.) And further, that man is to be led by degrees until he has an intuition of the truth, and rejects the false as of himself (A. C., 9039); and that truths remain as scientifics in the memory until man has an intuition of them.

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     This teaching is concerning the establishment of the Church with the Gentiles, or the simple among adults, who have imbibed falses of religion in early life. But the bearing is also direct upon the state, as well as the treatment, of childhood; for children are Gentile in their state and habits of thought. They are no doubt much associated with Gentile and simple spirits in the other world; and the teaching and leading of the one is applicable to the teaching and leading of the other.

     The Lord never breaks, therefore, but bends the fallacies of childhood which have been insinuated from the letter of the Word as holy, and which must be so insinuated even though in themselves fallacies, in order that the first plane, or the sensual degree with its simple affection, may be formed. They are to be allowed to remain in them until they are older, when they call be led out of them in freedom according to order, or according to reason,--that is, at such a time when the rational faculty begins to be opened:--except such things as are contrary to Divine Order and the order of civil and moral life,--these are to be removed by parents, even by punishments when necessary, but not the things which are at the time in themselves indifferent and which the child will itself remove in full freedom in later years; for these things, as was said, are necessary for the full formation of the degrees in which they live. The child is to be led by degrees until he has an intuition of the truth, and when he has this he will reject the fallacy as of himself, or in the light of his own mind. As for example, the child, being in appearances, will believe that every one is in need who professes to be in need: and as the Word inculcates good-will and charity to all, his compassion is excited and he wishes to believe the need. The compassion so excited is a good to the child, and injury may be done to his infant charity if he be told that the beggar is a hypocritical impostor and not worthy of help. So it is with other things which are only apparent truths and goods, but which must be allowed to remain to serve their temporary use. This is the manner in which the Lord leads every man, and the Divine model and method is given us, to acknowledge and follow so far as we are able.

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     The Lord neither breaks the fallacies nor extinguishes the evil lusts by any sudden violence, but leads man by degrees out of them. If we are patient with our own evil, let us also be patient with the evils of our children; for their evils find their root in our own lives. The beginning of restraining theirs is in restraining our own; and restraining from saying and doing things that will insinuate into them the love of the world, hatred, revenge, and all uncharitableness, as well as other evils which we see and know in ourselves. The insinuation of truth and good, or falsity and evil, is a most important question for our consideration, for more is implanted in this way than by direct teaching. Insinuation is effected by what our children hear us say and see us do, when we are not thinking about teaching them. What we shall or shall not say or do in the presence of our children becomes, therefore, a question of great importance; for in it is involved the teaching, contained in the words of our text, on the one hand the conservation of their present state of fallacy and evil desire until they call gradually be led out of it, or on the other hand, the insinuation of such things as will tend to break or extinguish prematurely that which is mediate to what is higher and better. Let us hope and trust in the mercy of the Lord, that He will inspire us to lead our children even as He leadeth us!

     The words of the text, as quoted in Matthew, have a general application to the Last Judgment: hence the word "truth" is changed to the word "victory;" He shall bring forth judgment into victory. The judgment is the Last Judgment accomplished by the Lord in His coming, and the victory is the subjugation of the hells then effected, and at the same time the elevation of the simple in the other world, from the lower earth into heaven. As thus applied, the teaching of the text in general is, that the simple, and thus the whole world is to be kept in ignorance of the internal sense of the Word, and of genuine doctrine from it, until the Last Judgment is accomplished: for there would be danger if the internal sense were revealed sooner--the danger of profanation. If a general sphere of profanation should prevail, no one could be saved: the simple good would perish; nor could remains be implanted in childhood so as to be perpetuated; in consequence of which children born would die in infancy, and thus the human race would cease to exist.

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     The provision for keeping the Christian world in ignorance, lest there should be profanation, is indicated by the words, "The bruised reed He shall not break, and the smelting flax He shall not quench;" that is, the simple are to be left in their fallacies, and thus in ignorance, until something call be given them in their place,--which something is, the spiritual sense of the Word. In this is revealed a fundamental law of the Divine Providence in respect to man and his salvation, which is, that the Lord does not permit a fallacy or falsity to be roughly or violently assailed and suppressed, until He is ready to impart the truth in its place; and that in man does this he is acting against this law of Providence, and in so acting does injury to states of innocence, the innocence that has its abode in ignorance and is preserved by ignorance until the fullness of time.

     In order that the simple among Christians, as well as the Gentiles, might be kept in ignorance and thus protected, the Lord permitted the Dark Ages to come upon the world, which in reality began with the decline of the Ancient Church; and when Europe emerged from the Dark Ages it was not a rising up into spiritual light, for the darkness in spiritual things continues; the darkness which came over the world in the decline of the Ancient Church, still prevails, though now since the Lord's Second Coming there is light for some--for the few who are willing to receive it;--and thus are fulfilled the words "The morning cometh and also the night." (Isaiah xxi, 12.)

     We are especially interested, however, in the application of the law of the text to the states of childhood, but of which we can obtain only a general view on this occasion. Children are to be left in their fallacies until they can be led out of them in freedom, according to order. The danger of premature knowledge in childhood is to some extent acknowledged, in theory at any rate, if not in practice. Knowledge may he premature, or it may be too long delayed. There is a time to withhold and a time to give; and it is the part of wisdom to know and perceive the proper time to speak and act. The Lord treats us in this way. He withholds knowledge from us till the time comes for it to be given, and then He gives it: and let us, therefore, ask Him for the light of intelligence and wisdom, that we may he able to treat our children as He treats us. And so doing we shall not be too greatly disturbed, too anxious, if we commit errors of judgment in their training. When an error is committed, all that is necessary is repentance; simply this and nothing more.

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Then we shall not too greatly minify nor magnify the dangers; for the Divine Providence is continually striving to give us greater light, as well as to correct the results of our errors. Harm is indeed done but if it be only an harm is not great, nor permanent, nor such as cannot be corrected; for if the Divine Providence did not continually protect us and our children from the consequences of our own errors, our lot would indeed be sad and grievous. All that is necessary is repentance; the Lord will do the rest.

     The text brings into view the end and purpose of what we have been calling New Church education, which is the same thing essentially as a true religious education. All things of it that are not distinctly religious, are but instrumental to the same end. This end is to minister, to co-operate with the Divine Providence of the Lord, in the kindling of affection, the affection that lies stored in the bosom of the truth, the affection of truth,--not primarily the storing of knowledges, but the kindling of the affection that is in them. If the affection is enkindled and the fire is kept alive, it will gradually increase,--the smoke will become a flame, and the light of spiritual intelligence will dawn upon the mind: the faculty of judgment will be brought forth and expanded into the light of truth, for there will be victory over all things that obstruct the extension of spiritual thought and the growth of the spiritual mind.

     But before there is spiritual intelligence there must he natural intelligence. Spiritual intelligence is formed by spiritual truth, and natural intelligence by natural truth. In order to know what natural intelligence is we must know what natural truth is, and what distinguishes it from sensual truth on the one hand and from spiritual truth on the other.

     It may be remarked here, that in the Prophets, where the Coming of the Lord is treated of, and the establishment of a New Church by Him, the teaching is that the New Church is to be established where there was no Church before; that is, where there is ignorance, not only ignorance of genuine truth but also ignorance of the confirmed falsities of a consummated Church.

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The New Church is not implanted with those who are in the falsities of the former Church, unless those falsities be removed; and they are removed with exceeding great difficulty, and it can be accomplished only with a few. The fruitful soil is where there was no Church before, that is, with the Gentiles, with the simple, with children and youth, also with those in early manhood who have not yet entered into and imbibed the sphere of the falsity of evil of the former Church. The falsity of the consummated Church is the sensual truth of the Word confirmed. The simple and children are also in this appearance of truth from the letter of the Word, which is sensual truth. But these appearances of truth are not to be confirmed, to become the falsities of evil. The children are to be left in them for a time, and then gradually led out of them; their sensual truth is to become natural truth, or rather, natural truth is to take the place of sensual truth, as the next step toward a state of spiritual intelligence. This is what is meant by these words in Isaiah: "In the habitation of dragons...there shall be grass for reeds and rushes." (Isa. xxv, 7.) By the habitation of dragons or serpents is meant the sensual degree of the mind. In the evil sense the consummated Church is meant by the habitation of dragons, for that Church dwells in the perverted sensual; but in the sense not evil, the state of the sensual degree in childhood is meant. The state of the sensual degree with children is called the habitation of dragons, but the serpents are harmless, because of the sphere of innocence in ignorance, in which children are; and even the sensual appearances of truth are made use of by the Lord; by a gradual bending rather than by a violent breaking the state is changed from one of sensual truth to one of natural truth. In the habitation where serpents dwelt, where reeds and rushes grew before, grass shall grow up. Instead of the swamp and the marsh with their rank vegetation, the land shall be drained, the reeds and rushes cleared away, the land tilled and planted, and crops of grass, with grain of every kind, shall grow up for the service of man and beast.

     Natural truth is spiritual truth in the natural and accommodated to it, and constitutes what is called in the Writings the interior natural, and is in fact the interior natural sense of the Word of God; in which the truth is shorn to a large degree of the fallacious appearances that are in the mere letter of the Word. It begins with the genuine idea of one God and His coming into the world; and it includes in its scope all the interior truths of moral and civil life, the interior truth of human society and its development, the interior truth of history, the interior truth that is contained in every art and science, the interior truth of Nature itself.

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Natural truths are also called scientifics in the Writings, and the state of the understanding formed by them is called science, which is the intelligence of the natural man. The term philosophy, when rightly used, covers the same ground, and we have in the scientific or philosophical works of Swedenborg a remarkable example of natural truth, or of natural science, as distinguished from sensual science. The grass shall be instead of reeds and rushes.

     In the explanation which is given in the Writings of the passage just quoted from Isaiah (xxv, 7), we read that these words signify that the Lord will establish the New Church with those with Whom there was not any Church before, "and that then there shall he science by Divine Truth Natural for those with whom before there was only sensual truth; which is signified by the grass instead of reeds and rushes. Grass signifies the science which is from a spiritual origin, or that by which spiritual truth is confirmed; but reeds and rushes signify the science which is from a sensual origin, or that by which the fallacies of the senses are confirmed. This latter science considered in itself is only the lowest natural science, properly called material and corporeal, in which there is little or nothing of life." (A. E., 627)

     In these words we have the very reason itself given, and the very necessity itself indicated, for New Church education, namely, that the child may be led out of the habitation of dragons, out of the stagnant marshes where only reeds and rushes grow, into the green pastures and fruitful fields where the tender grass and the nourishing grain sprout with abundant increase, where instead of the stagnant pool shall be waters of rest, and where the soul may be recreated in the treasure- laden atmosphere of heaven.

     The science of the world is a sensual science, and is being used every day to confirm the fallacies of the senses; from which as a fruitful source spring all infidelity, the denial of the Lord Jesus Christ and His Word, followed by the closing of heaven, and woes unnumbered, to man. But the science of the New Church is a true natural science, or a science of natural truth, having as its Fountain the Word of God, illumined by the light of heaven now revealed, useful and usable to confirm all spiritual truth, a true philosophy, the handmaid of religion, by which heaven is opened and the Lord Jesus Christ is seen in glory, ruling the universe alone, the very God of heaven and earth, whose kingdom now to be established is to remain forever. Amen.

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DEDICATION BANQUET 1902

DEDICATION BANQUET       Various       1902

     After the conclusion of the Dedication services, the friends spent about an hour in social intercourse and inspecting the various class rooms and offices. At 2 o'clock all assembled in the spacious gymnasium, where a bountiful feast had been spread out before them. The room made an appearance not soon to be forgotten. The walls and pillars were decorated in various shades of green; the six long tables, with covers for two hundred and thirty-five guests, were brilliant with flowers and ferns, palms and other tropical plants. A large portrait of the late president of the Academy, Mr. R. M. Glenn, occupied one of the walls, surmounted by an eagle, and draped with the flag of the Academy and with American flags. The pupils of the schools, forty-five in number, acted as waiters, the young ladies dressed in white and red. In front of each guest lay a beautifully printed menu card, containing also a vignette of the Academy building and the program of toasts, songs, and speeches. The menu itself was a memorable one, opening with a "Buffet Suedois" (little sandwiches of Swedish bread with anchovy), and winding its savory way through six courses of well-prepared delicacies, accompanied with "Moselle," "La Tour l'Aspic" and "Roederer."

     After the ice cream had been served, Professor Odhner, acting as toastmaster, introduced the first toast, "To the New, Church," to which the assembly sang the well-known and ever-beloved song. "Our Glorious Church, Thou Heavenly Bride." The toastmaster then spoke as follows:

     By the loving mercy of our Lord we have been called together to celebrate in this feast an event of profound significance in the history of the New Church.

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We have this day witnessed the solemn dedication of a building which, we have every reason to believe, is to become the permanent home of that great use upon which we rest our special hope for the future of the New Church,-the use of educating a new priesthood and a new people for the service of the Lord.

     In the history of our beloved Academy this event marks the end of a former state and the beginning of a new state: the end of the twenty-five years of wandering from place to place,--and the beginning of an era of greatly increased usefulness in a fixed and well-appointed home of its own.

     For over a century the New Church has been in labor to bring forth that of which at this day we have witnessed the birth. We have here the ultimation of a century of endeavor and thought, for the Academy movement is the growth of three generations in the Church. It began with the very beginning of the New Church, and has finally resulted in this building, which, as a most external ultimate, will give to the Academy and its uses a permanency, a solidity, a power, such as it never had before. What is further involved in this event will be explained to you by the various speakers of the day, but first I would like to read some letters and telegrams which on this happy day we have received from distant alumni and friends of our schools."

     The toastmaster now read the following telegrams:

     "Hearty congratulations. London Society. MORRIS."

     "May every joy and blessing attend the joyous occasion. Vive l'Academie, ALUMNI IN GLENVIEW."

     "On this day when all who love the Academy rejoice because of the new home provided for its uses, we seventeen former pupils of the Academy in Berlin, Ont., hereby send our hearty greetings to those assembled to celebrate the dedication. We will celebrate, and with you tell in word and song of our love and loyalty to our beloved Alma Mater. THE BERLIN EX-PUPILS.

     "Please express my sincere regrets because of unavoidable absence, and extend my hearty congratulations to those present. The occasion is, indeed, a memorable one. N. D. PENDLETON. (Glenview.)"

     "Congratulations to our beloved Academy. May loyal 'sons and daughters' ever 'receive life and light through thee.' ALVIN and HELEN NELSON." (Chicago.)

     "Greetings, dear Alma Mater, on this joyous occasion. ERNEST A. FARRINGTON." (Chicago.)

     "Please accept our earnest wishes for the prosperity of Alma Mater and the success of the dedication. We wish we were able to attend. RALPH and CURTIS HICKS." (Pittsburg.)

     The following letters were then read:

FROM THE REV. E. J. E. SCHRECK.

     "I regret to have to decline your invitation to be present on the occasion of the dedication of the new school building, as I live too far away. May you live to see the beautiful class rooms filled with students."

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FROM THE REV. ANDREW CZERNY.

     "I am glad to learn that the new Building is now ready for Dedication, and that this long expected event is to take place soon. I only regret that it is not possible for me to be present on the occasion. Please to accept my sincere thanks for the invitation.

     We have truly reason to rejoice, and at the same time to be filled with gratitude, for this external evidence of the growth and prosperity of our Alma Mater. May her usefulness increase, and her influence for good continue."     

FROM MR. WM. E. PARKER.

     "Heartiest congratulations at the great good fortune of the Academy in at last acquiring a fully equipped home for its great use. I have a sincere trust that in the Divine Providence an ever increasing number may enjoy the priceless privilege of a genuine New Church Education within its doors. A Grateful Alumnus."

FROM THE REV. E. S. HYATT.

     "I am sorry not to be able to be present at the Dedication on Sunday. I none the less rejoice in this new ultimation of the Academy's work, and hope that it may be the foundation for that advancement of the use of Education for Heaven, to which we look forward with hope, already so wonderfully confirmed."

FROM THE REV. D. H. KLEIN.

     "The ties of affectionate gratitude will, on this day, add to your joyous celebration many who are not assembled within your walls.

     "The stone structure which is the Academy's new home is firm and enduring, but the principles of life and faith for which it stands are stable and permanent far beyond that which the mind and heart of man can devise. As one who has shared in the bounty of its rich gifts, I wish to record my earnest gratitude, and to rejoice that in its new surroundings the Academy will be able more fully and appropriately to extend these gifts to others. May the Lord prosper its uses.

FROM THE REV. F. E. WAELCHLI.

     "It is with much regret that I find it impossible to be present at the Dedication and the Banquet. That it will be a memorable occasion, there can be no doubt. Who, that saw the humble beginning of the Academy, would then have imagined that within so few years it would be given such a palace for its uses. My thoughts are at this time carried back to the day in September, 1883, when you and I entered the College of the Academy at 110 Friedlander St.,--a little house on a side street, two small rooms of which were our halls of wisdom.

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But we esteemed that place as the most wonderful in the world, because the greatest use on earth was there performed. There comes the thought: What if we should some day be obliged to return to such surroundings? What if adversity should come to the Academy, and we should lose all those grand externals because of which we today rejoice! Would there in that case be men ready to devote their best energies to the Academy's uses? Would there be loyal men and women, willing to make every sacrifice that those uses might live? I am sure that there would. For the love for the Academy and its work is as great, yea, greater, than ever, and will continue to grow with the coming generations. That love is our strength. It is interiorly in all our happiness on this day, when our hearts are raised in thankfulness to the Lord for His wonderful gift. Forever live that love, and forever live the Academy!"

     The toastmaster now proposed the toast "To the Academy, Past and present, to which Mr. Pitcairn sang the time-honored song, "Beloved Companions," the assembly joining in the chorus

     "Vive l'Academie."

     THE REV. E. C. BOSTOCK, in response, spoke as follows

THE ACADEMY, PAST AND PRESENT.

     "My dear Friends; It is just twenty-five years ago, this spring, since I came to Philadelphia to begin my studies in the Theological School of the Academy, after having read for a year with Mr. Hibbard, in Chicago, and meeting you all here today has taken my mind back to that time. Many circumstances,--some of them seem trivial,--come to my mind. In going to Philadelphia I stopped to visit Bishop Benade, who then lived in Pittsburg, or Allegheny City, and while there I had the pleasure of making the acquaintance of a friend of all the students who have studied in this school, one whom you all know. I refer to the manikin now in the Anatomy room.

     When I came to Philadelphia the school had no home of its own, but we met in the study of the Rev. L. H. Tafel, where we were instructed by Mr. Tafel, and also by our present Bishop, Mr. Pendleton. The plan for the school at that time was that we should study for a time with them, and that the Rev. Mr. Stuart should come up once or twice a week from Vineland to give instruction in English Literature. We were then to go to study degrees with Dr. Burnham, and afterwards to Lancaster, Pa., to study the general doctrines of the Church and Mr. Benade. We were thus to be a kind of traveling school, but that never came to pass. Then, the next fall, it was arranged that the school should meet in Philadelphia, and Mr. Stuart moved up to Philadelphia, as also Dr. Burnham. The Society of the Advent was then organized by Mr. Tafel and the school met in Cherry St. When we met in the old Cherry St. Building (I will just say this for the information of the students in this beautiful building), we students, if we wanted to keep warm, had to go down to the cellar, put coal on the fire and take the ashes out.

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There were various other things of that kind. Remember that it is just a little better now than it was then, in those external things.

     Another reminiscence is that of a visit which we had from Mr. Childs and one or two of the other laymen of the Academy. They came to Philadelphia, listened to the instruction we received from the teachers, admired the prospects of our brilliant intellects and were themselves so inspired with a desire to polish up the understanding of the coming ministers that they presented us with-a blacking box. Later on Mr. Benade came to Philadelphia and then the house in Friedlander Street was rented. This beautiful place reminds me of the fact that we also had a gymnasium. It was not necessary to supply it with this ultimate kind of apparatus. It was a mental gymnasium. We met there to discuss and decide upon some of the most momentous questions which were then before the Church.

     I remember the first time that Mr. Schreck, Mr. Czerny and several others: of the students coming from New York appeared on the scene, and were introduced into our Gymnasium with very solemn ceremonies. We did not let them come into the room until we were ready with our initiatory rites, but when we finally went to bring them In, we found one of them sound asleep, but I am glad to say, he did not prove to be a sleepy member of the Academy; that was the Rev. E. J. E. Schreck.

     Now, leaving these reminiscences, I will turn to what the Academy really is and what really constitutes it. I will call to your mind some of the things the Academy has stood for from the beginning, and for which it still stands as firmly, or more firmly, today than it did at the beginning.

     In the first place it has stood, and does stand, for the acknowledgment of the Divine Authority of the revelation which the Lord has made to us in the Writings of the New Church.--an acknowledgment of that revelation which means not only that it is to Be read, to be understood, and to be believed, but that it is to be read,--that it is to be the guide of our lives in church affairs and in private life. From this acknowledgment there have grown out many other things for which we stand and in which we are at variance with other bodies of the New Church. The first of these is the acknowledgment of the vastated state of the Christian world, the acknowledgment that the first Christian church has come to its end in a consummation caused by evils of life and thence falsities of faith, a consummation which means that that church cannot be revived, and consequently that there must be a distinct New Church established upon the earth, and established by study of the doctrines of the New Church and a life according to them.

     We have stood, and we stand, also, for an acknowledgment of the priesthood of the New Church, an acknowledgment of the doctrine which has been revealed that the church is to be established through and by means of priests who are to preach and teach the doctrines of the New Church which the Lord has revealed, and by them lead to the good of life. The Academy stands also for the cultivation of genuine conjugial love in the New Church, and with that end in view the Academy acknowledges that we have in us evils which oppose the establishment of conjugial love, and that the only hope for the establishment of conjugial love is implicit faith in the Lord's teachings on this subject, which we believe should be studied and obeyed, obeyed in every respect, before genuine conjugial love can be established; consequently we stand and have stood for that which the Lord teaches, namely, marriage within the Church, and we regard marriage with those outside the Church, as it is regarded by the angels of heaven, as heinous in the sight of the Lord.

     The Academy stands and has stood for a genuine New Church education of our children.

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We believe that the only hope for the establishment of the New Church is that our children be kept within the Church, and in order to do this, we must educate our young within the Church, thereby bringing them up as true members of the Church.

     These are some of the things which the Academy believes, stands for, and teaches, but deeds speak louder than words. The Academy has not simply talked about these things, but has gone ahead and done what it could to do them. The Academy has, in the first place, established a Theological School, and that school now abides in this beautiful building with its corps of professors who teach those who are to become priests of the New Church that they must avoid the falsities of the Old Church. It has, through that Theological School, educated a number of priests so that at the present time there are but one or two priests in the General Church of the New Jerusalem who have not been educated under the auspices of the Theological School of the Academy.

     It has not only established a Theological School, but it has also established a College and Seminary for the education of the young in the doctrines of the Church, in natural sciences, languages and literature, under the auspices of the New Church. The Academy has been the means of leading to the establishment of schools in various societies of the Church for the education of the young from the time they first go to school until they are able to go to the College or Seminary of the Academy. At the present time there are six such schools established by the Academy, or under its auspices, and when you think how few in number are the members of the General Church, and of the number of schools they have, and the number of pupils under their education, you Can see what a wonderful work the Lord has enabled us to do in that direction.

     The Academy, for the instruction of the New Church, has published various magazines and journals. It has issued Words for the New Church and New Church Life, Book of Doctrine, and many other books, pamphlets and documents for instruction. It has also established a Library and Book Room, and that Book Room has grown wonderfully. It has now a manager with two assistants to look after it and the other business of the Academy. It has also assisted in the reproduction .f the manuscripts of Swedenborg. It has assisted in the publication of the Concordance to the Writings of the New Church. It has also done what it could towards the establishment of an orphanage.

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It stands not only for the faith, but for the uses of the New Church, and has manifested by its acts its disposition to encourage and help along those uses. It has lived, as an organization, a life of faith and charity; a life of truth and use.

     Now a word or two concerning the states through which the Academy has passed. The Academy for a long time acted in connection with the General Convention in this country and, in a more feeble way, in connection with the Conference in England. And in these bodies, when it urged the Divine Authority of the Doctrines of the New Church, it was met with opposition which resulted in combat, struggle and trial at the various meetings of the Convention and Conference, but these combats and trials only served to exalt our feeling of confidence in the truth. If these had been the only trials, we would have had a very smooth time, for it is not so difficult to fight enemies who are outside; but we have had many trials within the Academy. The natural man exists in each one of us, and through the natural man trials have entered. We have had divisions resulting in separations that have put a wall between us and many who were with us before,--not a wall which prevents our wishing to them every good, but a wall which prevents us from working with them in full harmony to promote those uses which we love so well. These separations have been a source of very real anguish and torture and trouble to those who passed through them. It seemed as though the things we loved above all things on earth were to be destroyed. But the Lord has permitted us to go on with those uses and has led us to the state of peace and prosperity which now exists, and our beloved Academy still stands. But it has not been all trial and tribulation,--in fact, the delights have prevailed over the anguish and the torture of the temptations and the trials. Who that was in the social life of the Academy in its beginning; who that has been in that social life as it has been through the twenty-five years of its existence; who that is now in the social life of the Academy, does not value it as internal friendship and life given us by the Lord? Truly we have experienced something of that sphere which reigned in the love-feasts of the primitive Christian Church and which is described in the True Christian Religion, n. 433. We have felt it as a sphere of love to the Lord and to the neighbor which softened the sound of speech and brought forth festivity of the heart into every sense, and we trust that our children will grow up in it.

     What greater blessings has the Lord given us than the many happy marriages in the Academy? They have brought us together in bonds which never can he severed. And the Lord has given us many children. You have only to look about you in this settlement today. Many children are being educated to be of the New Church. Some have entered into the happiness of heavenly joy. Many more are still with us and growing up. The Lord has given us the means to educate children in the New Church in a way children have never been educated before. For that let us thank the Lord. The Lord has brought us through trials and temptations, through joys and gladness, for which blessed be the name of the Lord.

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     Love is the life of man, and love is as surely the life of a greater man as it is the life of an individual man. What is the love which has given birth to the Academy, which has kept the Academy together and enabled it to pass through the trials and tribulations of life? What is the love which holds us together today and impels our teachers and members to carry on the uses of the New Church? That love, I verily believe, is the spiritual affection of good and truth. For no other love could bring forth such a desire as exists today for the establishment of the New Church.

     If the Academy is anything more than a shell, if it is anything more than a structure which exists today and tomorrow will fall, it is because there exists within it that genuine affection of truth, because through it man has eternal life. And further, he who would have perception of spiritual things must be in the affection of truth from good, and must continually desire to know truth. This is the affection which has given birth to the Academy,--the spiritual desire to know truths and apply them, and that is the love which animates us today. That is the sacred fire which burns in the hearts of all true members of the Academy.

     Unless you love truth for its own sake: unless it lies deep within you; unless you value it above all things, you are not and cannot be a true Academician. Unless our teachers and professors have that love within them; unless that love animates them in their work; unless that love increases until it burns as an eternal flame, the Academy cannot live. But that flame has been lighted, and the Lord will not permit it to go out. And I say to all those who come to this institution to be educated in the New Church: You may learn all the sciences to perfection; you may know all the languages; you may even know and be able to talk about the Doctrines of the New Church,--but unless that sacred fire is lighted within you, you will not get what we strive for. But the Lord will give you that sacred fire, if you strive for it,--the spiritual affection of truth. And if you have that, then you may know that you have what will not only give you happiness in this world, but in the world to come, and then when you sing our college song:

     'Dear Alma Mater, hear our Song!
     Our love and trust to thee belong.
     Firm ever stand thy sons to guard thy name,
     And true thy daughters watch thy sacred flame"

     --then your hearts will burn within you, and you will determine to watch that great flame as long as the Lord gives you breath to draw and light to see."

     We wish we could communicate in print the sphere of intense emotion produced by the words of the speaker. As his voice died away, the assembly spontaneously broke forth in the College song:

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     "What name resounds more sweet than thine,
     Beloved School, for gifts Divine,
     For life and light received through thee,
     We render thanks, Academy!

     "May thy beloved altars stand
     Through every age, in every land.
     And may thy heavenly uses be
     Forever blessed, Academy!"

     Next followed the toast "To the Maecenas of the Academy," the one who had donated the new building and who also had provided the present banquet.

     MR. WALTER C. CHILDS then responded.

     THE MAECENAS OF THE ACADEMY.

     "Mr. Toastmaster:--I must confess that it is with somewhat mixed feelings of pleasure and apprehension that I rise, in obedience to your August commands, to briefly respond to the sentiment proposed. For while the object of the toast provides a most inspiring theme, still so great is his modesty and disinclination to receive plainly merited praise that even though the speaker should use such moderation as to quite dissatisfy this audience, he will still run the risk of subsequently receiving a painful overhauling at the hands of the praisee. So it would seem advisable to tread the path of prudence. In such a predicament one naturally thinks how vastly all this will be improved, even in the world of spirits, where language is such that if intended to express only brotherly and affectionate appreciation,--such as in this case we all feel, and as we ought to feel,--it would convey just that worthy meaning, and could not possibly be mistaken for offensive laudation.

     The toast is to the Academy's 'Maecenas.' In regard to the noble Roman prototype, it is unnecessary to consider him from a spiritual or moral point of view. He lived just before the consummation of the Jewish Church and was further handicapped by being the possessor of great wealth and for many years in the highest favor of Emperor Augustus, so that considerable allowance should be made for him. There is no doubt, however, that he was a good fellow in his way, inclined to be merciful when in power, of boundless liberality and devoted to the encouragement of literature and the arts. His spacious palace on the Esquiline Hill was the favorite gathering place of Horace, Virgil and other brilliant spirits, whom he protected, encouraged and aided. The world believes that it owes him much, and his fame is secure. But our Maecenas, while filling the character in its best light, is vastly more, so far as the Academy is concerned, than was his Roman namesake to the art and genius of the imperial city. In a word, our Maecenas is, as the toast says, an Academy one.

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     A recent very delightful occasion, among the many that have taken place on the "Esquiline hill" of Bryn Athyn, was a supper in commemoration of the Founders' Day. Now, I think this is an appropriate time for one of the alleged founders to make a simple statement of enlightening fact in regard to the part played by our Maecenas in the founding of the Academy. The coming historian, when he gets to the inside of things, will, I predict, narrow down the number of the founders of the Academy to practically two men, both of whom were absolutely essential to the movement. It is hardly necessary to say that Bishop Benade was one of the two great powers and that our Maecenas was the other. It is quite true that there were a number of us so-called founders, who rattled about more or less and perhaps without doing any particular damage; but the difference is that without these two special men our beloved Academy could never have come into existence. This cannot be said in regard to any of the other men.

     Now, Mr. Toastmaster, with your kind permission, I shall give joy to that 'half of the founders' who is here present by giving him a brief respite, and propose a health to the absent half, who is also one of the potent causes of our having this memorable celebration and of the ultimation of the educational uses that we see on every side. Let us, then, with grateful hearts and warm good-feeling, drink to Father Benade, First Chancellor of the Academy. [This toast was received with great appreciation.]

     The Academy grew and prospered, but evil days came. Our Chancellor became stricken with disease, and disturbances followed. The Academy survived the shock, but had our remaining founder not continued steadfast, how different would things be from what they now are? Certainly we should be otherwise engaged than as we are today!

     The Writings, in enumerating the moral virtues pertaining to men, mention, among others, benevolence, generosity, liberality and munificence. We all know how signally the Academy has been benefitted from the rational exercise of these virtues by one in whom they are conspicuous. It is highly important that the virtues named be cultivated in our young people. The beginning of great gifts to the Church has been made, and we already see glorious results: but it is only a beginning. Throughout the Church, as time goes on, there will be work for many another Maecenas, different from the uses supported by general contributions, and here is a spot where such a man of benevolence, generosity, liberality and munificence, and endowed with wealth, will receive rational inspiration; and it is my confident belief that the Church will, during the present century, be blessed by more than one such man from among the Alumni of the Academy Schools.

     As stated at the beginning, I have aimed to be very careful, and accordingly I have not even mentioned the name of the man to whom we and our children owe so much. Therefore, it is quite possible that this audience is in doubt as to whom I have in mind. Some time, however, there is certain to be a memorable gathering, at which those of us who may be living can speak right out.

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But for the good of the Cause here below, I, at least, am willing to have that unique occasion indefinitely postponed. Therefore, with all my heart, I say: Long live our Maecenas!"

     The speaker here, to the accompaniment of his historic guitar, sang a humorous verse, which he had composed for the occasion.

     It is needless to say that the toast was honored amid much merriment, and with even more than "protoplasmic enthusiasm."

     The toastmaster, in introducing the next sentiment, said: "I have to offer one more personal toast, again one which you will receive with sincere feelings of affection and gratitude, 'To the late president of the Academy, Mr. Robert M. Glenn, whose watchful care, experienced intelligence, and undying love for the Academy are evident in this room and in every nook and corner of this beautiful building. We all know how he looked forward to this day, and it is a pleasure to think that though absent in body, he is present with us not only in his effigy, but in his spirit, in his love which is the real presence of any one. Who knows but what the many friends of the Academy who have gone before us are even now assembled in a feast such as this, with Mr. Glenn in their midst, all rejoicing at the good news he has brought to them from earth, but rejoicing especially at that development of the New Church in the world of causes, which has made possible this development of the Church on the earth."

     As the loving cups, filled with champagne, passed around, the company joined in the following song, recently composed by Mr. Childs:

"Here's to the loved ones homeward gone!
More precious still they grow.

By higher uses now they serve
The cause they loved below.
And in that land of light and life
With them we soon shall be,
And there we'll pledge, as pledge we now,
Our own Academy."

     MR. JOHN PITCAIRN responded as follows:

     THE LATE PRESIDENT OF THE ACADEMY.

     "A sketch of the life and work of our late president was given at the Memorial Meeting immediately after his decease and was published in the February issue of the New Church Life. It is not necessary to repeat what was so well said in that sketch and by the several speakers who bore appreciative testimony to his work in our midst.

     A great author makes one of his characters say: 'The evil that men do lives after them,' and we can say with equal truth that the good that men do lives after them.

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     It has well been said that Mr. Glenn has left a monument in the work he has done for Bryn Athyn, but I desire to speak of his crowning work, the building in which we are now assembled and which has just been dedicated. The design and the execution of this structure devolved upon him and the work speaks for itself. The means were provided by another; but necessary as were the means, compared with the conscientious thought, the painstaking care, and the faithful labor required to provide an edifice adapted to the uses for which this building was intended, the providing of the means was relatively little. How well his work was done, you are all here to bear witness.

     A man is usually accounted successful in this world if he has acquired wealth, position, or fame; but we of the New Church know, or we may know, that a man may have acquired one or all of these semblances of success and still have been a dismal failure. Comparatively few men acquire wealth, position, or fame in this world; but the real attainment of success is within the reach of every man. From a New Church point of view the man who becomes a form of charity is the truly successful man. We read in the Doctrine of Charity: 'Every man who looks to the Lord and shuns evils as sins, if he sincerely, justly and faithfully performs the work that belongs to his office and employment, becomes a form of charity.' If wealth, position and fame come to a man from having sincerely, justly and faithfully performed the work that belongs to his office, then he should be thankful to the Lord and take care to keep these worldly blessings in their proper place. We can all be thankful to the Lord that we have had so faithful a worker among us as Mr. Glenn. May his memory ever be green!"

     BISHOP PENDLETON and Mr. ACTON dwelt further upon the subject of this toast, but their remarks, unfortunately, were not taken down by the reporter.

     The toast, "To the University and the New Clergy," called forth the singing of this verse:

     
"Make strong Thy priests, O Lord,
Servants who hear Thy Word
From Thy bright throne.
Clothe them in robes of light,
Aid them to preach in might,
Fearless before Thy sight,
Thy Truth alone!"

     THE REV. ALFRED ACTON, responding to this toast, said:

     THE UNIVERSITY AND THE NEW CLERGY.

     "Mr. Toastmaster,--When I think of all that this day means,--when I call to mind the scene of twelve years ago when Mr. Benade prophesied this day and we were filled with enthusiasm at the distant prospect of its coming,--and then when I reflect that that day is now with us, I feel wholly unequal to the task of responding to this toast to the University and the new Clergy.

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This day is a day to which we have looked forward for many years past; it is a day to which we will look back for many years to come, for it marks an important stage in the development of the Academy in the upbuilding of a New Church University.

     A university is defined as a body which educates in all the arts and sciences. The name comes from the Latin Universus, meaning 'the whole,' 'all;' and if we go deeper into the meaning of this word, we shall see that a university involves more than the mere teaching of the arts and sciences, for that which embraces the whole must be universally present in all the parts. A university teaches all the arts and sciences because it teaches the higher or universal things which enter into them, and this is the reason why universities teach only the higher branches of education in which universals or principles can be set to view.

     The universals of education always have had and always must have relation to the Church. For the Church teaches concerning God, concerning the laws of His government and concerning the world of nature as the theatre for the operation of those laws, and it is man's attitude to these that determines the universals of his thought and life. If those universals are a denial of God and a worship of nature, then all the arts and all the sciences with that man filled with these universals serve only to confirm him in his folly. In the light of heaven, such a man is ignorant of all the arts and sciences, howsoever his mind be filled with their facts. But if a man's universals be spiritual truths then he is so far in all the arts and sciences because he is in the universal light which enters into them. His further growth is only a matter of time and opportunity and study, and the acquisitions of his memory will serve only for the cultivation and confirmation of genuine rationality.

     Thus we are told that the angels of heaven are in all the sciences; not that they are actually in worldly science, for their ends do not dwell on merely worldly things, but they are in the universal principles of science, and, when the Lord permits, they can come actually into the sciences themselves. Heaven is in reality the university of the human race, for only from its truths can man become wise and learned.

     The history of learning shows that an intellectual culture has sprung from the Church, and that as the Church has become vastated, so the internal or universal principles of learning have become falsified. Learning has ever come from schools and universities, and these have always been established by the Church and reflected its doctrines. The schools of the ancient philosophers in Greece were such universities in which something of the light and wisdom of the Ancient Church was preserved among men to prepare them to receive the future Lord. In Christian times the schools of theology soon development into the centres of all learning, the universities of Christendom in which learning was the servant and confirmer of the truths of the Church. Those truths soon became falsified.

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Yet, even when the Church was in its decline, it was still in the universities that something of the knowledge of God was preserved, some little of rationality, some little of the light of heaven to relieve the obscurity of the dark ages. It was the universities that provided the home from which Luther and other reformers came forth to spread a new light throughout the world. They provided the home from which Swedenborg came forth, who was to be the agent for the entrance of a new and crowning light into the world.

     And even now the great universities of Christendom, though some of them are apparently divorced from the Christian Church, yet had their roots in that Church, but now they are the centres from which that Church spreads forth its darkness throughout the whole world. The great universities of Europe and America, what are they now but centres of infidelity and materialism? and whence do infidelity and materialism come if not from the evil and vastate Church of the world. The universities are the homes in which the Church nurses and fosters its falsities. They are becoming the strongholds for the denial of God and the worship of nature, for the rejection of the Word, and the worship of human intelligence. In them the arts and sciences are studied, but not for the cultivation of rationality; they are no longer the handmaids of religion setting forth the glory of God, but become the weapons which men use to dethrone their Lord. Everywhere in the universities there reigns universally the denial of God, the denial of the spiritual world, the denial of all spiritual truths.

     Nature, whose beauties and mysteries are most manifest evidences of the Lord's presence, this work of His hands is raised up against Him, is investigated and studied only to deny Him. These are the universals which make the modern universities,--universities that are the most potent weapons in the hands of a vastate Church in spreading the denial of the Lord and His Word, the teaching of its universal falsities.

     The Academy stands for a new university in which God shall be acknowledged and nature be regarded as a mirror of His presence; in which the arts and sciences shall be studied for the cultivation and expansion of spiritual rationality; a university from which shall go forth a new clergy and a new laity, which shall be a centre of genuine light to the world.

     The Academy is, indeed, already such a university potentially, for in it are taught those universal truths of the Heavenly university which enter into and enliven all the arts and sciences. It is only a matter of time before the Academy becomes also a university in actuality,--before it embraces in its curriculum all branches of learning. It has already begun the work of applying its universals, of making education and learning new from the New Church, of reconstructing the sciences from a new philosophy. In all its teaching the presence of God is recognized, and its teachings are directed to opening the eves to that presence. Here nature is no longer the enemy of God studied to confirm man in materialism; it is seen and studied in a new light to serve its true use in confirming men in the acknowledgment and worship of the Lord. The old universities spread forth the universal falses of the Old Church; the Academy is a new university spreading forth the universal truths of the New Church.

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     The establishment of such a university is absolutely necessary for the establishment and growth of the New Church; for a church to have any force in the world must not be confined to theology, but must enter into the whole thought and life of the world and make these a reflection of itself. There is no church that has had any permanent existence which has not had its universities as the centre of its light, where its doctrines are studied and taught and where its clergy and laity are educated,--universities which have taught not only theology but also the arts and the sciences in the light of the church.

     It was no doubt with a perception of this in his mind that Swedenborg, writing to Dr. Beyer on the establishment of the New Church, said: "The universities in Christendom are now being instructed from which will come new ministers; for the new Heaven has no influence over the old clergy." His words leave no doubt that Swedenborg saw the necessity for the growth of the Church of having universities in which a new intelligence should be cultivated and from which new hearts and minds should go forth to spread the light of the New Church. And that he imagined that the old universities could continue to send forth workers for the New Church seems impossible in the light of his statement that the old clergy, under whose influences and from whose falsities the old universities live, will not receive the new truths.

     It is clear that he meant that the beginning of the New Church should be With men trained in the universities; that its truths should be received by educated men who could study them and teach them. And the early history of the New Church confirms his prophecy. Thomas Hartley, one of the earliest receivers in England, was a university man; John Clowes, the pioneer translator, was another university man; Clissold, the learned translator of the Principia, was still another, to say nothing of other notable names in the New Church, especially in Sweden, where at one time it seemed as if the whole Lutheran clergy was about to accept the Heavenly Doctrines. And in Germany, Immanuel Tafel was distinctly a university man. It was the same in this country. The whole of the Church in New England had its beginning in a few university men, among whom were Thomas Worcester, T. B. Hayward, and others, who first came across the Writings in the library of Harvard University. Richard de Charms the elder was a university man,--he who was the first to recognize the necessity of having a new University of and for the New Church, and who was the first minister in the Church to plan out and actively work for the establishment of such a university. But DeCharms was in advance of his age, and his ideas found little response in the members of the Church. It was left to another man, William H, Benade, to carry out the dream of DeCharms' life; and Mr. Benade also was a university man.

     The New Church owes much to the labors of university men. Yet we cannot look to the universities of the world for our leaders and workers.

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The number of those who have come to us from them is insignificant and almost imperceptible compared with the number of those who have not come. A few no doubt will come in the future, but their number will be a constantly decreasing one, as the old universities more fully express the vastation of the Old Church. Those who have come to the New Church are the small remnant bringing over the learning of the Old Church to serve in the establishment of the learning of the New Church. And it is not surprising that it is to two of this remnant from the universities, (DeCharms and Benade) that we owe this day we are now celebrating. Coming from the learned bodies of the Old Church they saw the necessity of a seat of learning for the New Church; their life and labor was devoted to the establishment of a New Church university, and we are now realizing their dreams and entering into the fruits of their labors.

     A university is far more than a seat and centre of learning; it is a centre for the cultivation and propagation of the affection which enters into learning, whether this be heavenly or infernal. And so this our university, to be truly a New Church university, must be more than a seat of learning. Not only the understanding is to be trained, but also the will. Religion without learning becomes sentiment, but learning without life becomes faith alone. We want neither of these in the New Church. We want a new learning which shall be the offspring and the strength of a new affection and a life. In our schools, not only must the pure truths of revelation be taught, but affection for those truths must be fostered and cultivated.

     In the eyes of the world, we are but a small and weak body; but the truths we teach are not weak; heaven, the home of those truths, is not weak, and the Lord their source is all powerful. If we are faithful to those truths we will grow, for the power of heaven is with us and this will yet overcome the world. When the four originators of the Academy movement met in Pittsburg twenty-eight Years ago, they did not see what their action would lead to, they had no idea of establishing a new University. But the Lord saw and He guided. So now, we do not see what this new step in the growth of the Academy will lead to, but He sees, and, if we are faithful, that Providence which has led us thus far will still guide our steps, so that from these beginnings it shall grow to be a great university, the examplar of the Heavenly university, and this thought must inspire us with greater love and loyalty and enthusiasm for this our beloved school.

     It is for us to be faithful, for the professors and teachers to study and teach the genuine truths of the Church; for the pupils to open their minds to those truths, and for all to cherish affection for them in their life. Then from this new clergy to displace the darkness with light, but also new laity able to receive the new light more interiorly and to bring forth in new-born uses of the world; and this university will become more truly a centre of light and life in the New Church, a representative of heaven which is the university of the human race.

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     "To the 'Concrete' in New Church Education" was the formula of the next toast, which was responded to by the REV. E. S. PRICE, as follows:

     THE 'CONCRETE' IN NEW CHUCH EDUCATION.

"There has been some discussion going on lately in New Church Life in regard to the concrete in New Church education. The question has been raised as to whether there Is yet anything concrete to show for the work done in New Church educational institutions in general, and in the Academy in particular. Some answers have been given in the Life, as you all know.

      But let me define the word 'concrete.' It signifies 'united in growth,' 'standing for an object as it exists in nature, invested with all its qualities as distinguished from standing for an attribute of an object,' 'opposed to abstract.' Hence: 'applied to a specific object;' 'special;' 'particular;'--'opposed to general.'

     If the one who asked for 'the concrete' had been present and heard from the speeches about the small beginnings of the Academy, I think he would be convinced on looking over this assemblage that we are 'united in growth' and therefore somewhat concrete in that sense.

     Have we arrived in the Academy movement at a place where we have an object invested with its dualities, and not merely an 'abstraction,' about which we talk? Have we applied New Church education to a 'specific object?' Or, in other words, have the subjects, namely, the wards of New Church education, made any application in their lives?

     To every system of religion,--to every variety and form of every religion, there must be one,--not many,--one specific touchstone by which, as to application to life, the system or variety is to be tried. Is there such a touchstone visible in the New Church as represented by the Academy and its education?

     The intellectual test of New Churchmanship is the conception of the Lord. This is also the intellectual test of the Academy. But the thing by which the Academy is to be tried as to application to life is the doctrine of marriage in all its phases. In fact the doctrine of conjugial love might almost be called the doctrine of the Academy; for in the Church at large but little is said about conjugial love; in fact it would seem that to a great extent the subject is avoided. But the specific one of the doctrines concerning conjugial love is that which insists on marriage within the Church; this has been insisted on from the very initiament of the Academy, --has been made the very centre of its life; for on true marriage rests the welfare of the human race, yea, of the very heavens themselves. Now, if we have succeeded in impressing this doctrine on the minds of the young in such a way that they are willing to obey it, we have then established a concrete form of New Church life as a resultant of New Church education. And this has been done. For our young people marry within the Church, not from mere contiguity, but from an abiding faith that this is the only true marriage,--that marriages between those of different religions are heinous in the eyes of the angels.

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I think it is safe to say,--it is true so far as I can remember,--that not one of the young people whom we have had the opportunity to educate up to the development of the rational time of life have married out of the Church. Our young people do not wish to marry out of the Church. Here we have established 'the concrete' in New Church education:--Our Young people will marry within the Church and they will rear as many children as the Lord sends them."

     In presenting the toast, "To the President-elect and the Prosperity of the Academy," the toastmaster explained that Bishop Pendleton, on the day preceding, had been elected member and president of the Academy corporation, and he congratulated the corporation upon the possession of a head, after an interregnum of our months. "No living body could prosper without a head for a longer time than that." The company now sang "The Academy Colors," and Mr. S. H. HICKS responded as follows:

     THE PRESIDENT-ELECT AND THE PROSPERITY OF THE ACADEMY.

     "While the good things of the table have been delightful and satisfactory to our natural appetites, and the conversation has been free and spontaneous, yet there is always a greater flow of thought, and the blending of the entire company into a true unity, when we listen to and are inspired by sentiments such as have been spoken here today.

     This company, In turning its attention to spiritual topics, such as the authority of the Heavenly Doctrines, New Church Education, the conjugial life, and kindred subjects, has been thinking the same thoughts and been inspired with the same affection--and where can we find such a sphere and condition, except in the Academy?

     It is a privilege and a pleasure to respond to the subject which is credited to me on the program, and although I may mention names, I will ask you to apply it in an impersonal way.

     The formal action of the Board of Directors of the Academy of the New Church in yesterday electing Bishop Pendleton to the presidency, brings with it a civil or external form or ultimation of what has existed in reality since the new movement of 1897.

     As Bishop of the General Church of the New Jerusalem, he was recognized as the ecclesiastical head of the Academy, and in August, 1898, this took on more orderly form by the Corporation, at a meeting called for the purpose, passing the following resolution:

     'Resolved. That until further action this Corporation recognizes the Bishop of the General Church of the New Jerusalem as ex-officio head of the Ecclesiastical uses of the Academy of the New Church.'

     Under the executive leadership of our beloved Mr. Glenn, the civil body or legal organization known to us as the Corporation had already been brought into a better organized form, into more orderly methods and business practices, and into proper respect for the Civil Law, and at this time it has seemed best to merge or unite the ecclesiastical and civil functions of the Academy under or into one personality--and with the wise leading and teachings that we have always received from our Bishop concerning Divine Revelation and Divine Law, there is no danger that we will go wrong in observing and carrying out the statutes on the civil plane.

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     Our president-elect has always emphasized the doctrine of use,--which some of us practice 'theoretically,'--but if we get right into the ultimation and activity of it, we will make it much easier for the executive head in discharging his duties.

     "There certainly should be no political log-rolling or ambitions. for I want to mention in confidence that a number of us already possess a variety of offices. We scarcely have any rank and file or 'high privates' in the Corporation, but we have, let us hope, subordination, and if each one engaged in his use, be he among the clergy, the professors or the laymen,--will do his whole day, and devote his heart and mind to the work assigned to him each one will then be great in the use of his office, and our Chief will be better able to lead the Academy to greater internal and external prosperity.

     The work or use involves not only the instruction of our young men and women in the knowledges, but also the implanting of morals, patience, patriotism, a life of charity and a love of use and a mutual confidence and toleration.

     "A prominent French writer says:

     'We are born to do the work of the world. Every one of us must help it on; we cannot explain the necessity for our lives except by perceiving that nature wanted one more laborer to carry on its work.'

     "Again from the same writer:

     'Work is life itself. Never since the first atom set itself in motion to unite with other atoms has the great work of creation ceased; and this creation which is going on, which will ever go on, is the universal work of the world, to which each of us must bring his atom.'

     'Is not the universe a universal work-shop, in which no man can be idle, in which the very least of us are doing our part in a mighty work in which the machine goes on, and turns out what it has made, and is creating incessantly, whether it be simple fermentation or things that are of the utmost perfection.'

     'There is not one being, not one thing in all the universe that can be idle. Everything is compelled to work and is forced to do its part in the work common to all. Whatever does not do its work disappears and is rejected as useless and superfluous.'

     Let us elevate our minds and quote from revelation.

     I make these quotations to show that there exists in the, world a recognition of actual performance.

     From the Arcana Caelestia (n. 1102), we learn that no man is ever born for the sake of any other end than that he may perform a use to the society in which he is, and to the neighbor, while he lives in the world, and a use in the other life according to the good pleasure of the Lord.

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     In another place we read:

     'The mind devoted to its office and employment from the love of use retains its vigor, and is then in spiritual delight, which is the delight of fidelity, sincerity and justice, and is withheld from the delight of fraud and malice, also from that of mere gossip and feasting, this also being the de
light of idleness, and idleness is the devil's pillow.'

     Again,--'When the Lord leads man away from (seeking honours and wealth for the sake of self) he introduces him into the love of uses so that he may regard eminence for the sake of use, and thus that it may be of the uses and thence of self, and not of self and thence of uses; and in like manner opulence.'

     "When uses or goods are the ends or loves, it is not the rulers who exercise dominion, but the Lord.

     Again,--'The same dignities and honours are spiritual and eternal when the man regards himself as to his person as being for the sake of the commonwealth and uses; and not these as being for his sake.'

     'By uses are meant not only the necessaries of life for one's self and one's own; but also the good of our country, of the community, and of our fellow citizen. Mercantile business is such a good when the love of it is the end, and money is a mediate subservient love; provided the of business shuns and is averse to defrauding and evil arts as sins.' And many, many more practical passages like these.

     Now, if we love our use and have charity, we will have patience, and a greater spirit of toleration will be promoted. If any one falls by the wayside, let a stronger one lift him up, and start him again on his feet. The Lord has patience with us; let us have patience and consideration for each other and not expect perfection,--yet!

     With the added personnel to the Corporation and this beautiful building, our body has obtained a more solid basis than ever before, and if affection for our great institution increases among the people on account of the uses performed, let us hope it will take on a more ultimate form among the members, so that this work, which until now has been almost entirely supported by one man, will be sustained financially by the many.

     This is a needed aid for the conservation of the organization, and the perpetuation of the uses so wisely begun.

     The office of President, as the Academy is organized, is a typical one, and is a synonym of use. Justice is in the Government. Love of the neighbor is in the Church, and civil affairs and freedom are respected.

     Happy for us that we have such a chief, and we will pray that the Lord may spare him here for many years for the great work that is put in his charge.

     By supporting him, we will support ourselves, and this will bring genuine prosperity; and then, wherever we live, wherever we are, we will be Academicians, indeed, and also citizens of 'Bryn Athyn,'--a 'Hill of cohesion,'--holding together."

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     As the toast, "To the Promises of the Future," was given, the company sang the hymn, "Triumphant Zion." The REV. GEORGE G. STARKEY, in response, said, in substance:

     THE PROMISES OF THE FUTURE.

     While the occasion, and especially perhaps the phase of the "Promises of the Future," was one to inspire enthusiasm, he felt the serious side of the question too deeply to indulge in any enthusiastic dreams of the things yet to come; and he felt it one of the encouraging signs, that in the speeches that afternoon, warm tributes though they were to the blessings which the Lord has sent us and to the qualities of the men by whom those blessings had come, there had been moderation and an absence of what is known as "American brag." Enthusiasm is of the natural man; and though we must recognize the natural man as the foundation on which the Lord rears the whole spiritual superstructure of the Church, yet before regeneration it is the seat of all evils, which dwell side by side with those goods which make a man human in externals, making the state a very mixed one: enthusiasm alone makes a very poor foundation.

     The Present is the egg which contains all the possibilities of the Future. Before the Lord past, present and future are as one; and from the beginning of Creation He has kept alive the seed of Life which He sowed then, and has never suffered it to die--has never suffered the sacred flame of spiritual life to be utterly extinguished on earth. If the state of the Academy and the uses of the Academy have resulted from somewhat of genuine spiritual aspiration, then the Lord will keep that spark alive, and the externals which He has provided, and which we were this day appreciating, would be made the means of spiritual upbuilding, the possible development of which and the end of which no man can foresee.

     For the genuine promise of the future we must look not to externals, however perfect, but to internals; and because we cannot with any certainty know internals, the future is and must be unknown to us; but we can say that if such and such internals are what they appear to be the future will be,--speaking very generally,--thus and so. The speaker then enumerated some of the evidences of growth in the General Church, among which he especially welcomed the beginnings of a greater humility,--a recognition of the evils of the natural man, which in every one of us contains as possibilities the seeds of every crime and atrocity that have stained the ages that have past. It is not the founding of a University, Library, or instrumentalities of every kind that will make this Church endure, but the lives which are led by the men and women of the Church.-by their attitude toward the things of salvation. The ancients had a custom of exhibiting at their feasts a skeleton. This custom he believed arose from some perception of a truth; the skeleton from which we can never entirely get away is the fact of the quality of the natural man, and the necessity of remembering it, and of being humble. The promise of the Future is but the hope of the future; so soon as we fall into the way of looking on it as a certainty we begin to extinguish that hope and all spiritual light.

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The uncertainty is of course with man alone; for to the Lord belongs only salvation. The General Church and the men of the Academy had been tested in the fires of temptation and trial, and in the spirit of unanimity which had survived and still prevails and increases there were strong elements of hope. He thought we were now rather less self-confident, less ready to hit at every falsity that may appear, more ready to consider the state of the "Bruised Reed and the Smoking Flax," on which we had that morning heard such pregnant truths in the Bishop's sermon. In the recognition of the fundamental character of conjugial love, and in its embodiment in happy homes, where the real things of life are given chief place as the ideal to be striven for,--lies great hope for the Church; and from the homes are the children, in whom, naturally speak-would be exalted as never before.

     In the development of the New Science the speaker read great promise for the Church, as well as in the greater growth and systematization of Doctrine and Theology which characterize the New Movement. True Doctrine makes the Church, when not only acknowledged but lived; and he thought that the Doctrine of the future would receive immense support and assistance from a more interior knowledge of the philosophy of the universe, by the reaction of which and in the study of which,--by application of analogy and correspondence,--the understanding of Doctrine would be exalted as never before.

     Speaking of the loyalty of the men of the General Church tribute was paid to the great service to the Church which the influence of Mr. Glenn's loyalty had been,--greater than had been known by most of the members, and exercised at times most critical to the Church; this service indeed was really greater than any which was concerned in the rearing of this building or providing for the various instrumentalities of the Church. So long as the Academy has such men her promise is great.

     Then so let us live as to be one in spirit and life with those who have passed through the conflict with the natural man and have reached their reward,--have gathered their harvest and realized the bright promise which the Father holds out to all. Thus will be fulfilled the beautiful words which we have just sung:

"No more shall foes unclean invade
And fill thy hallowed walls with dread;
No more shall sin's insulting host
Their victory and thy sorrows boast.

"The Lord on high hath heard thy prayer,
His hand thy ruin shall repair;
Nor will thy watchful Monarch cease
To guard thee in eternal peace.

     And when by conquest over sin we shall have come into entire harmony with those above, who are one in heart with the Church on earth and with the Lord's work of salvation there, then will come the fruition of that golden prophecy to which we gave voice in this morning's service:

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"They thirst not, neither hunger,
Who gain that bright abode,
With oil of love anointed
As kings and priests to God.
O, dear and blessed vision,
The Seer of Patmos tells!
What glad and hopeful tidings
The prophet's voice reveals!

"Behold the Tabernacle
Of God is now with men;

And He will dwell among them
And heal their grief and pain.
And he that overcometh
Shall be the Father's heir,
Within the glorious city;
And dwell forever there."

     The final toast on the program was "To the Spirit of Loyalty and Courage." The hymn, "Jerusalem, the Golden," was here sung, and the REV. HOMER SYNNESTVEDT responded, but his remarks, unfortunately, were not recorded.

     After some impromptu remarks by Mr. Robert Carswell, Mr. Hugh L. Burnham, and Rev. Reginald Brown, a few informal toasts were offered, among these one in appreciation of the services of Mrs. Odhner, who, with many zealous assistants, had superintended the preparation of this memorable banquet.

     In the evening a sacred concert was given in the chapel. The program, besides several organ solos by Mr. Walter Van Horn and selections by the orchestra, included vocal solos by Mrs. Herbert Walker and Miss India Waelchli, and the singing of a Hebrew anthem by the pupils of the schools.

     The following list of the visitors will give an idea of the representative character of the occasion:

     From Glenview, Ill.: Mr. Hugh L. Burnham.

     From Denver, Col.: Miss Wilhelmina Doering.

     From Toronto, Ont.. Mr. and Mrs. Robert Carswell, and Miss Edina Carswell.

     From Wellesley, Ont.: Miss Lucinda Bellinger.

     From Hartford, Conn.: Miss Grace Dwight, Mr. Warren Potts.

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     From Pittsburg, Pa: Rev. R. Brown, Mr. R. B. Caldwell, Mrs. A. O. Lechner, Mr. Arthur Lechner, Mr. and Mrs. George A. Macbeth, Miss Macbeth, Master George Macbeth, Miss Venita Pendleton, Miss Helena Schoenberger

     From Baltimore, Md.: Messrs. Knapp, Behlert, Coffin, and Gunther.

     From Scranton, Pa.: Mrs. A. G. Gilmore, Miss Leila Gilmore.

     From Allentown, Pa.: Mr. and Mrs. John Waelchli, Miss Laura Waelchli, Miss India Waelchli, Mr. Jacob Ebert, Miss Matilda Kessler.

     From New York City: Mr. and Mrs. Walter C. Childs, Masters Randolph, Sidney and Geoffrey Childs, Miss Eliza Mitchell, Mr. A. Zellner, Mr. Samuel Klein, and Mr. Raymond Cranch.

     Nearly all the members of the Philadelphia Society of the General Church were also present.
WRITINGS IN WORSHIP 1902

WRITINGS IN WORSHIP       FRANK SEWALL       1902

EDITOR New Church Life.

     Dear Sir: Will you permit me to express my surprise at what I must characterize as the superficial manner in which, in an editorial of the April number, my recently expressed views regarding the use of the Writings in worship are treated. The editor's criticism of my views, while he practically admits all of the doctrinal positions I urge, seems to fail utterly in seeing what so intelligent a student as he might have been expected to see, the necessary bearing of these positions on the subject of the worship of the Church, which is really the matter under consideration. But, on the contrary, not only is the worship of the Church itself confounded with the state of intellectual instruction,--making the office of the Church wholly and exclusively a teaching office,--but assertions are made regarding the use of the Writings in promoting angelic association which are entirely unwarranted by the Writings themselves. Thus the editor admits that the Letter of the Word and the Writings are on distinct planes and should be kept distinct, but he asserts what I believe contrary to true doctrine, that they are both instructional only, although on two planes, and that of the two planes, the spiritual plane of the Writings introduces more nearly into the angelic sphere of the heavens than the reading of the Letter of the Word.

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     "Is it not clear," the editor asks, "that the reading of these Writings introduces most immediately to the angels who are in that very sense" (which the Writings reveal)? No! I have to reply: it is not clear at all to one who accepts the doctrine of ultimates as the vehicle of Divine power and as the receptacle of Divine influx. On the contrary the Doctrines declare plainly that the "states of holiness," of which external worship is the medium through the power of correspondential ultimates, are quite independent of any conscious intellectual instruction, and therefore do not concern the rational as much as the voluntary mind. Thus Arcana Caelestia 1618 declares that by the externals of worship man is initiated into knowledges and is prepared to receive celestial things and is gifted with "states of holiness though he be ignorant thereof, for use in the eternal life." These "states of holiness" are doubtless the same as those spoken of in the doctrine of the Holy Supper where we read (H. D., 212) of "a holiness of love and of faith" that flows into the communicant and effects his conjunction with Heaven and with the Lord. What I contend is that these states of worship are entirely distinct from the intellectual, rational activities of the mind which are appealed to by the instructions of the Church as such. The editor himself asserts that "the Writings are on the Divine Rational, while the Letter of the Word is on the Divine Sensual plane." But the sensual plane is the receptacle of not only the rational, but the voluntary activity also. And in Arcana Caelestia 10177 we are distinctly told that "by worship is meant that holy principle which is wrought by prayers, adorations, thanksgivings, and the like, which proceed from internal principles of love and charity."

     Trusting that I have made clear what I meant by the Church having a function of worship distinct from that of intellectual instruction, and thus that the editor is in error in confining the use of the Word to the latter only and regarding all else as "bibliolatry," which could apply with much more force to the sacraments.--(which are the Letter of the Word set forth in bodily act and not in speech only, and surely involve something besides instruction),--I would only further call attention to the error of asserting that conjunction with heaven and the Lord is most powerfully effected by the mind's entering into the spiritual sense of the Word in the Writings, thus as distinct from and read apart from the Letter.

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We surely could not assert that the delight with which certain angelic choirs heard the singing of the Psalms on earth, or with which the angels draw near to little children while they are reading the Word, is a delight based upon the earthly worshipers, understanding of the spiritual meaning of the Letter! 'That there is a spiritual meaning within the Letter, in which the angels are, is true, but what brings about the conjunction is not the rising up of the human or literal worshiper into the spiritual plane, but the descent of the spiritual into the plane of the Letter. Therefore the conjunction is brought about only when the Letter is present in the mind. (See S. S., 41.) When this is absent, as when the Writings are read, then there is instruction, indeed, but not the basis of this angelic inflowing and heavenly illumination. So fundamental a doctrine is this, that I have to express my surprise that a New Church scholar should have overlooked it in the zeal of argument. The Writings go so far as to assert not only that "the Lord is most present in the sense of the Letter" (S. S., 50); that "He is present with man in the sense of the Letter and nowhere else, and there illustrates and teaches him the truths of the Church. For the Lord never operates anything except in fullness; and, the Word in the sense of the Letter is in its fullness" (S. S., 53); but they declare that "Divine Truth is not holy until it is in its ultimates, which is the Word in the sense of the Letter. The reason is that this sense contains all the holy things of Heaven and the Church." (A. E., 1088.)

     Further, as to the practical or religious power of the Letter, we read: "Combats against evils and falsities must be waged through truths from the sense of the Letter, for man is reformed and regenerated through truths from the sense of the Letter....for man is reformed and regenerated through truths from the sense of the Letter....The angels of both the celestial and spiritual kingdoms (thus the rational and voluntary) and men ore together in the sense of the Letter." (S. S., 49.) "The power of the Word in the sense of the Letter is the power of opening Heaven and of fighting against evils and falsities." (A. E., 1085.) "A man who reads the Word holily is by such correspondences closely conjoined with Heaven, although he be thinking solely about the things which are in the sense of the Letter." (A. C., 3735.)

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     Because I have thus emphasized the supreme importance of the Word in worship and its distinctness in kind and degree from the use of the revelations of its spiritual sense contained in the Writings, I have not thereby in the slightest degree derogated from the importance of the use of the Writings by the Church in her teaching function, whether in the Church service or elsewhere. The editor's statement that I would "favor the reading of the Writings on the basis of the historical precedent of the Roman Catholic Church" is hardly a just representation of my views, for I think I showed that I valued for other grounds than mere tradition so valuable a privilege and means of spiritual instruction, as is possessed by the New Church. I referred to ancient precedents merely for the purpose of removing the objection felt by many to arbitrary innovations in sacred usages. But I am free to confess that I see, in the movement to put the Writings on a plane in every respect with the Word itself, a rash and ill-considered tendency which can only be compared with Unitarian Christian Science and other humanitarian and secularizing movements of the present day, the effect of which movements, instead of exalting the sense of the Divine,--even in the Writings,--is to lower and universalize it and exalt humanity in its place. For the sense of "the Divine among the people" is preserved by "the Letter of the Word and nowhere else," according to Swedenborg, just as the Word made Flesh in the person of Jesus Christ is the foundation of Christianity. The argument that would prove that because every man has elements of good and truth in him, and all good and truth is Divine, therefore man is divine, and hence "the real Christ" in every man can and ought to supercede the historic Christ of the Gospel, is not unlike the argument that because the Writings contain revelations of the spiritual sense of the Word, therefore they are the Word, and we may henceforth dispense with the Letter, and accept the Writings for the Word itself. To guard against this fatal mistake the great pivotal doctrine of discreet degrees in revelation and of the power in ultimates has been given to the New Church, and it is because these most precious doctrines seemed to be ignored and even controverted in the editorial under discussion, and not from any desire of controversy with the able and fair-minded editor, that I have been willing to thus explain my position more at length. FRANK SEWALL.

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     THE WORD AND THE WRITINGS.

     A REPLY TO THE REV. FRANK SEWALL.

     IT is with pleasure we publish the communication on "The Writings in Worship" by the Rev. Frank Sewall, on account of the opportunity which it affords for a thorough discussion of subjects which lie at the basis of the whole question respecting the mutual relations of the Word and the Writings. This question is again prominently before the Church, and the discussion can only result in an increase of light if conducted in the spirit which distinguishes the letter of our correspondent, whose frankness commands our respect, even though we must controvert his doctrinal positions.

THE OFFICE OF THE CHURCH AND OF THE WORD WHOLLY AND EXCLUSIVELY A TEACHING OFFICE.

     Our correspondent charges us with "making the office of the Church wholly and exclusively a teaching office" and with asserting that the Letter of the Word as well as the Writings "are both instructional only." To these charges we freely plead guilty.

     We know not of any other office or function of the Word of God than that of teaching the Divine Truth and thereby of leading to eternal life, for we know not of any other approach to the Father than by the Son.

     What is the Word but the Divine Truth itself? And what is its purpose and office but that of teaching man, instructing him, pointing out the way of salvation? Is it not called the "Word" of God because it is His very voice speaking to man in Divine Doctrine?

     "The Lord is Doctrine itself. Hence it is that the Lord is called 'the Word,' because the Word is Doctrine." A. C., 3364.

     "That the Lord is Doctrine itself He teaches in these words:

     'I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life;' where 'the Way' signifies Doctrine, 'the Truth' everything of Doctrine, and 'the Life,' the good itself which is the life of truth." A. C., 2531

     "The internal of the Church is called the Law from the Divine; and its external, the Doctrine thence derived. The Law from the Divine is also the Word in the internal sense; and the Doctrine thence derived is the Word in the external sense." A. C., 7231.

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     Since, therefore, the Word is Doctrine, or, what is the same, Teaching, it is addressed to the understanding of man, to his rational and intellectual faculty, for this is the receptacle of the influx of Truth. It is not addressed immediately to the human will, for this is hopelessly corrupt. Were it received there, it would immediately be perverted. Even with the regenerate man, who possesses a new will from the Lord, nay, with the celestial angels themselves, the Divine Light flows first in the understanding and thence affects the will. Among all men and all angels, therefore, the office of the Word, or of Divine Doctrine, or of Divine Truth, is the office of teaching, instructing, and illuminating the understanding, leaving man in freedom to accept or reject the teaching. It has no other office. It is the Lord's only means and method of bringing salvation to man.

     The Church is established solely and exclusively for the sake of the salvation of souls. This is its one and only office and purpose, and the only means to this end is evangelization, the announcement of the Lord's Word. For "by evangelization is meant all things of the Word which treat of the Lord, and all things which in worship represent Him. For evangelization is annunciation concerning the Lord, concerning His Advent, and concerning the things from Him which belong to salvation and eternal life. And as all things of the Word, in its inmost sense, treat of the Lord alone, and all things of worship represent Him, therefore the whole Word is the Gospel; in like manner all worship which is conducted according to the things commanded in the Word." A. C., 9925.

     "Priests are to teach truths, and be these to lead to the good of life." (H.H., 315.) They are to lead,--but by truths, only by truths. Their one office, therefore, is a teaching office, wholly and exclusively. The general law which applies to the priesthood applies to the Church as a whole.

     WORSHIP NOT INDEPENDENT OF INTELLECTUAL INSTRUCTION.

     Our correspondent believes that in our editorial "the worship of the Church itself is confounded with the state of intellectual instruction," and he asserts that "the 'states of holiness' of which external worship is the medium through the power of correspondential ultimates are quite independent of any conscious intellectual instruction," and that they are "entirely distinct from the intellectual rational activities of the mind, which are appealed to by the instructions of the Church as such."

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     Now, while it is perfectly true that man, by external worship, is gifted with states of holiness, though he be ignorant thereof,"--in other words, that man is not conscious of the fact that celestial remains are then implanted with him,--yet these states are by no means "independent of any conscious intellectual instruction," but are the results of such instruction, for we are taught that man by external worship "is initiated into knowledges, and is prepared to receive things celestial. A. C., 1618.

     Our correspondent knows as well as we do, that good is never "quite independent" of truth, or "entirely distinct" from it. No matter how little of truth, or how simple and objective the instruction may be, still there must always be some degree of instruction and of understanding in order to effect any genuine state of worship. The presence and sight of the Word undoubtedly implant remains with a child, but not unless the child has been taught something about it; he must know, for instance, that it is a holy book, the Word of the Heavenly Father. The singing, the prayers, the adorations in worship,--what are they all but so many means of instruction, means of conveying truth for the awakening of the affections? But without some degree of instruction or of appeal to the "rational, intellectual faculties of the mind," all the rites and ceremonies of the Church affect neither the thought nor the affection, but are purely external and idolatrous. Whether in life or in worship, the only means of communication between the Lord and man is the Divine Word, which, as was shown above, is the same as Divine Doctrine or teaching.

     The notion that the "states of holiness" in worship are quite independent and entirely distinct from "any" conscious intellectual instruction is so far from the truth of New Church Doctrine, that we are astonished to hear such assertions from one who has made the subject of Worship a life-study. The Writings are full of distinct teachings as to the absolute dependence of genuine worship upon the instruction in the truths of faith, as witness the following statements:

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     "The Divine Truths which are revealed in the Word cause worship to be internal, if men know them and live according to them; for if men without them could worship God holily, there would be no need of any doctrine of the Church, nor of any preaching." A. C., 10570.

     "Worship without truths, and a life according to them, is only an external sign of charity and faith, within which there may lie hidden evils and falsities of every kind."

     "Worship is only an external act, in which there must be the internal things which are of doctrine. Without these, the worship is devoid of its essence, life, and soul." A. R., 777.

     "Most men believe that they are to come into Heaven solely by holy worship;...the holy worship of such does not proceed from any spiritual origin, and worship that proceeds from what is empty is mere natural posture. Their holy worship repels Heaven from them instead of opening it to them.... But quite different is the holy worship with those who are in the cognitions of truth and good, and a life according to them." A. E., 126.

     Instead of the holiness of worship being independent and distinct from truth and consequently from the teaching of truth to the understanding, the fact is that it is "the Divine Truth descending from Heaven that produces the gladness and holiness of worship" (A. E., 502), for the term "holiness" is especially predicated of the Divine Truth. (See A. C., 6788; A. E., 204, and passages innumerable.) Hence we learn: that "all worship that is truly worship is from truths." A. C., 10308, or, more definitely, "all worship that is truly worship is effected from the good of love through truths." A. E., 316, 245: A. C., 7724. Therefore, "all worship, confession, and prayer must be from truths and from goods: in order to be heard they must be from both." A E., 419 "All the worship of Jehovah God must be from the good of love through truths. Worship that is from the good of love alone is not worship; neither is that worship which is from truth alone. For the good of love is the essential of worship, but good comes into existence and is formed through truths; and therefore all worship must be through truths from good." A. E., 696. Worship, therefore, or the holy states of worship, can never be said to be "quite independent" and "entirely distinct" from that intellectual rational faculty which is the sole vessel for the influx of truth.

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     Similar teachings might be quoted without number, but we will adduce only the following additional one:

     "They who worship the Lord from love, worship Him from all the truths of faith, so that the more truths there are, the fuller and the more acceptable is the worship." L. J. Post, 243.

     In order to prove the independence of worship from intellectual instruction, our correspondent refers to the Sacraments, "which are the Letter of the Word set forth in bodily act and not in speech only, and surely involve something' beside instruction." Undoubtedly these things involve much beside instruction, but they certainly do not involve anything without instruction. What is the Holy Supper but mere eating and drinking, unless the instruction. "This is My Body,?' "This is My Blood," accompanies the bread and the wine? And not only is this instruction necessary, but there must also be some degree of understanding of the act in the mind of the communicant, or there can be no spiritual results of the communion. We do not give the Holy Supper to idiots or to little children. The Writings cannot be misunderstood on this subject. We read, for instance:

     "Those who, when they frequent the Holy Supper, do not think from faith concerning the Lord and His love towards the human race, worship therein only the bread and the wine." A. C., 10149.

     "When, in the Holy Supper, a man thinks in simplicity of the Lord, from the words therein, then the angels are with him in the idea [his ideal of love to the Lord and of charity towards the neighbor." A. C., 3164, 5915, 4217.

     "If, however, anyone is so simple as to be unable to think from the understanding anything else than what he sees with the eyes, f advise him, when he takes the bread and the wine, and then hears them called the Lord's Flesh and Blood, to think within himself of the Holy Supper as being the holiest thing of worship, and to keep in remembrance Christ's passion and His love for man's salvation." T. C. R., 709

     "It has pleased the Lord to reveal the spiritual sense of the Word, in order that the New Church may come into the very use and benefits of the Sacraments, and this is done when men see with the eves of their spirit: that is, with the understanding, the holiness concealed therein, and apply it to themselves by the means which the Lord has taught in the Word." T. C. R., 700

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     All of which proves that the "states of holiness" in the Holy Supper or in any act of worship are not independent or distinct from intellectual instruction or the activities of the rational mind.

     THE PRESENCE OF THE LORD IN THE WRITINGS.

     We have dwelt thus at length on the preliminary parts of our correspondent's letter, because the ideas there given forth are representative of those fundamental and underlying errors which prevent the Lord from being seen and acknowledged in the New Church as the Divine Truth in His Second Coming. We come now to the crucial point, the very kernel in the whole system of obscurities and fallacious appearances which is infesting the Church at large,--the denial of the truth that the Lord has made His Second Advent in and as the Writings which were given through His servant, Swedenborg.

     Our correspondent seems to be laboring under the impression that the Writings are something "apart" from, or foreign to the Word of God, and that the Lord is not present in these Writings, or, indeed, in the spiritual sense itself, and this because he totally misunderstands the statement that "the Lord is present with man in the sense of the Letter of the Word and nowhere else." D. S. S., 53.

     This statement, however, is meant to be understood, and it is understood if we take it in connection with the teaching just preceding (D. S. S., 50), "that the Word in the sense of the Letter is in its fullness, in its holiness and in its power; and since the Lord is the Word, for He is the all of the Word, it follows that the Lord is present in that sense most of all." The doctrine is, therefore, that in the sense of the Letter, and there alone, is the fullness of the Divine presence with men, but it does not mean that the Lord is not present above the Letter, or above the heavens, for He is omnipresent.

     To deny, or to imply, that the Lord is not present in the spiritual sense, or in the Doctrine of the Church, is to deny the universal truth that "what is from the Lord is the Lord," or "what is from the Word is the Word." As the fountain is present in the stream, as the sun is present in the light which flows from it, so the Lord is present in the Heavenly Doctrine which is drawn by Him from the Word.

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"Hence it is that the Lord, as He is the Word, is also the Doctrine of the Church: for all doctrine is from the Word." A. E., 19.

     "In order that the Lord may be constantly present, He has unfolded to me the Spiritual Sense of His Word, in which is the Divine Truth in its light, and in, this He is continually present. For His presence in the Word is solely though the spiritual sense; through the light of this, He passes into the shade in which the sense of the Letter is." T. C. R., 780.

     The Writings are but the unfolding of the spiritual sense which is the Lord's very presence in the Letter. To say that He is not present in the Writings is therefore the same as to say that He is not present in His own presence, not present in Himself.

     It is an utter fallacy to imagine that the Writings are something "apart" from the Letter of the Word, something foreign to it. They are as much one with the Letter as the soul is one with the body, as the Divine is one with the Human. Each least doctrinal, what is it but the contents of the Word, drawn directly from the Word, and confirmed by it? How can the Writings be read "apart" from the Word? When we read them, we read the Word, nothing but the Word, expounded by Him who is the Word itself. In every instance we read the internal sense, or the doctrine of the internal sense, in connection with the sense of the Letter. We could not, even ii we tried, read anything in the Writings out of connection with the Letter, for the Letter is quoted everywhere.

THROUGH THE WRITINGS THERE IS OPEN AND IMMEDIATE COMMUNICATION WITH HEAVEN AND THE LORD.

     It would seem a self-evident proposition, that if the Lord is present in the Writings of the New Church, then there is also communication with the Lord in and through them, and, if with Him, then also with the angels of Heaven. But our correspondent utterly rejects the idea that "the spiritual plane of the Writings introduces more nearly into the angelic sphere" and asserts that "when the Writings are read, then there is instruction, indeed, but not the basis of angelic influence and heavenly illumination," (as if there could be any genuine instruction without heavenly illumination, or heavenly illumination without angelic influence)!

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     While it is perfectly true that "the spiritual sense without the natural sense accompanying it does not communicate with Heaven" (De Verbo, 18), yet the spiritual sense, when accompanied with the natural sense,--as it is invariably in the Writings,--does most powerfully and intimately communicate with Heaven. We have space for but a few of the passages which teach this:

     "If man, when at the Holy Supper, for the bread would perceive love to the Lord, and for the wine love towards the neighbor, he would then be in like thought and perception with the angels, who would then approach nearer to him, until at last they would consociate their thoughts." A. C., 3316.

     "All things in the Word are Divine through their having within them a spiritual sense, and through this sense communication with Heaven." A. E., 195.

     "The reason why the spiritual sense has now been disclosed is that the New Church is conjoined with Heaven through the Divine truths of the Word which are in its spiritual sense." A. E., 950.

     "The Lord has revealed these arcana, . . .that in the Word, in each and all things thereof, there is a spiritual sense corresponding to the natural sense, and that through this sense there is conjunction of the men of the Church with the Lord, and consociation with the angels; and that the holiness of the Word resides in it." C. L., 532.

     "To interpret the Word as to its spiritual sense from falsities of doctrine closes Heaven.... But to interpret the spiritual sense from the truths of doctrine opens Heaven, because this sense is that in which the angels are; and, therefore, a man through this sense thinks together with the angels, and thus conjoins them with himself in his intellectual mind." De Verbo, 7.

     "In the Evangelists there are the words of the Lord Himself, all of which contain hidden within them a spiritual sense by which (per quem) there is given immediate communication with Heaven." A. E., 815:6.

     "The spiritual sense of the Word has been disclosed by the Lord through me, which was never revealed before since the Word was written among the Sons of Israel; and this is the very Sanctuary of the Word.

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The Lord Himself is in it with His Divine, and He is in the natural sense with His Human. Of this not a jot could be opened except by the Lord Himself. This surpasses all the revelations which have hitherto existed since the creation of the world. Through this revelation there is open communication of men with the angels of Heaven; and a conjunction of the two worlds has been effected." Inv., 44.

     As a touching illustration of the communication with Heaven, which is effectual through the reading of the Writings, we have the account of Swedenborg's words to Dr. Beyer who was the very first open receiver of the Writings in this world. By request, Swedenborg wrote an outline of the Doctrine in a paper which, in the presence of other gentlemen, he handed to Dr. Beyer. "He trembled and appeared much affected, the tears flowing down his cheeks. 'Sir,' he said, 'from this day the Lord has introduced you into the society of angels, and you are now surrounded by them.' " (Dec. II., p. 700.)

     Finally, as to the propriety of reading the Writings in the worship of the New Church, we need but quote the following lines:

     "The spiritual sense has been disclosed at this day for the New Church, for the sake of its use in the worship of the Lord." T. C. R., 669.

     A FALSE ANALOGY.

     Our correspondent believes that he "has not in the slightest degree derogated from the importance of the use of the Writings of the Church," but the position which he assigns to the Writings in the analogy which he draws, certainly does not exalt their importance. He sees in the acknowledgment of the Writings as the Word of God "a rash and ill-considered tendency which can only be compared with Unitarian Christian Science," etc., and he follows out the unsavory comparison by drawing an analogy of arguments which, for the sake of brevity and clearness, we shall state in syllogisms:

1. The "Christian Science" argument:
"Every man has elements of good and truth with him.
"All good and truth is divine,"
"Therefore man is divine."

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2. Mr. Sewall's misrepresentation of our own argument:
"The Writings contain revelations of the spiritual sense of the Word."
"Therefore they are the Word, and we may henceforth dispense with the Letter and accept the Writings for the Word itself."

3. Our own argument, as stated over and over again in the Life:
The Writings are the Revelation of the spiritual sense of the Word.
The spiritual sense of the Word is the Word of God in its spiritual sense.
Therefore the Writings are the Word of God revealed in its spiritual sense.

     To which we will add this Corollary: the Writings do not dissolve the Law and the Prophets and the Gospels, but fulfill them.

     It will be seen that the argument of New Church Life is as unlike the Unitarian argument as heaven is unlike hell, but our correspondent thinks that they are "not unlike" because to his mind there is an analogy in the premises. He places the Writings of the New Church on a par with "every man." In other words, he sees in the Writings something merely human, or he could not have suggested the analogy.

     In rational discussion it is necessary that each one shall state his opponent's arguments fairly, but our correspondent by an unintentional faux pas departs from the usual custom. We have never said, or thought, or even dreamt of such a thing as that we "may henceforth dispense with the Letter and accept the Writings for the Word itself." The charge is so contrary to the teaching and the practice of the General Church and of the Academy, that we refuse to believe that our correspondent means what his words seem to imply.

     Were our friend to visit any of the homes or the schools or the public services of the General Church, he would quickly withdraw his charge. It is not for the purpose of dispensing with the Word in the Letter that the members of that Church keep the Word in their sacred repositories and read daily out of it, nor is it for that purpose that they teach even their little children the rudiments of the Hebrew tongue.

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Where else is greater reverence shown for the Word in the Letter?

     We believe, therefore, that our correspondent only meant to imply that our acknowledgment of the Writings as the Word of God, if logically carried out, must necessarily lead to the dispensing with the Word in the Letter. But why so? Did the early Christians dispense with the Word of the Old Testament, when they accepted the Gospels and the Revelation of John as the Word of God?' They found no disagreement between the two Revelations, nor do we find any disagreement between the Word of God in the Hebrew, in the Creek, or in the Latin, but as the Greek fulfills and explains the Hebrew, so the Latin gloriously fulfills and Divinely explains the two preceding Revelations. Where, then, is there cause for fear that the Word in the literal sense will be "dispensed with" by members of the New Church? THE EDITOR.

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Editorial Department 1902

Editorial Department       Editor       1902

     THE PREVENTION OF OFFSPRING.

     In nothing is the utter vastation of the Christian world so plainly to be seen as in the destruction of conjugial love; and in nothing is the destruction of conjugial love so manifest as in the well-nigh universal crime of Prevention of Offspring. Even the lusts and licentiousness which so markedly distinguish this age do not so interiorly destroy conjugial love, for Prevention makes a profanation of marriage itself, using it for the satisfaction of the lusts of the flesh and the defeat of the Divine End in creation, a heaven from the human race. The evil is a secret one; it is committed with comparative immunity, and is difficult of detection. It is, moreover, excused by specious arguments which to the natural man seem all sufficient, and it receives almost universal though tacit approval.

     But though the evil is secret and difficult of detection, yet that it is universal in the Christian world there is no room for doubt. Reason itself, when illustrated, sees that with the destruction of the Christian Church, Conjugial Love is also destroyed, and with the destruction of Conjugial Love comes also the destruction of the love of infants with the consequent Prevention of conception, Abortion and other evils not to be mentioned. But reason is not left without abundant confirmation of its conclusions. Statistics, the testimony of medical men, our own reading and experience, all go to show how widespread is the approval and practice of that evil which seeks to destroy the very foundations on which heaven rests.



     In our February issue we called attention to some significant statistics of the birth-rate in Ontario, Canada, and we quoted the comments thereon, by a committee of the Anglican Church of Canada in which the causes of the steady decrease in the number of births were given as selfishness and materialism social conditions, and the widespread use of preventives. The same tale might be told of almost every country in the Christian world.

     In France, the recent census returns show that with a population of 38,500,000, the increase over 1896 is only 330,00, an increase in four years of only a trifle over 6 per thousand of inhabitants. But to this 330,000 increase, Paris and its suburbs alone contributes 292,000, the greater part of which is due to foreign immigration, so that the rest of France gives an increase of only 38,000. This abnormally slow growth has been going on for many years.

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Indeed, since 1850 the population of France has increased by only 3,000,000 The terrible significance of these figures has excited the attention and thought of the leading men of France, and scarcely a week passes without the question being discussed, and various remedies being proposed, either in the Paris Dress or on the platform; but all without avail.

     The Paris correspondent of the London Times, to whom we are indebted for the above facts, assigns three causes for this "national evil" which is "constantly being aggravated:" 1. The unlimited subdivision of land, until at last the small owner "considers the multiplicity of children an irreparable disaster. Families having only one child, or at most two children, are becoming in the country as in the towns an almost universal rule." 2. Because men cannot or will not marry girls without a proportionate dowry to support themselves. 3. The expensive habits of French women.

     The causes here assigned are certainly of too superficial a character to satisfy the reason that they are the real causes of the spiritual and natural crime of prevention Lack of money is no doubt with many, especially the poor, an inciting cause, but it is not the true cause; the evil is just as prevalent, if not more so, among the rich as among the poor. And in what a state must poverty find men if it leads them to defy the laws of nature and of God? We must look beyond poverty if we would see the true causes that are leading to the decimation of the Christian world. We must see what destroyed Divine Order in spiritual things, among men, if we would see what is now destroying it in natural things.



     France is commonly held up to public gaze as the one country where the evil of prevention is most practiced: but this is not treating France altogether fairly. The evil is by no means confined to that country. It is not a "national evil" but an international evil, so far as Christendom is concerned. In a letter to the London Times, Dean Freemantle, of the Church of England, commenting on the facts noted above, writes: "All Europe, except Russia, is going in the same direction, and England is leading the way.... In 1875 there were born in the United Kingdom 35 children for each thousand of the people. In the year 1900 they are only 29," a decrease of 6 per thousand, or, with a population of 41,5000,000, "a loss of 249,000 children for each year. The Dean points to "the wish for ease and material enjoyment" as the cause of "this willful diminution of our race," this "crime against humanity and its Author." And he adds "In every country this materialism finds reasons [such as poverty, etc.] for its exercise. In America, for a long time past, and in Australia, as the recent census shows, it has taken a firm hold.... It is very natural for young people with small incomes to say 'We can more easily live in the station in which we were born, and bring up our children, if the family be limited to one or two. They forget that the affection of a large family and their mutual help in the struggle of life is frequently the stimulus of all that is best in character, and even in temporal well-being."

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     Another correspondent to the Times, writing on the same subject, finds that the statistics quoted by the Dean, after taking other matters into consideration, show a decrease in the birth-rate of 1.2 instead of 6 per thousand, but he adds "Even so reduced, a fall in the rate is to be regretted, and it is, I fear, only too probable that the fall may be in part attributable to the sad cause suggested by the Dean."


     The statistics are approached in another way, but with practically the same results so far as evidence of the practice of prevention is concerned, in a paper read last September before the Economic and Statistical Section of the British Association. The writer of this paper shows by a very carefully prepared table that "the number of children per marriage has fallen from 136 in 1881-1884 to 3.63 in 1900," and he concludes by stating that "the natality of the British colonial population is also low and diminishing." Still more evidence to the same effect was given in a paper read by a Mr. Devas during the same meeting, in which he affirms that the decline of the birth-rate is due to "a steady decline in the size of families," not to the decrease in the number of marriages. Continuing, he said that "France was the grand modern example of such a decline and of the sterile family; but in the latter part of the 19th century the United States, with the Canadian Province of Ontario, and in the last decade of the 19th century, Australia and New Zealand had shown an analogous decline of the birth-rate."


     That there is a universal decline in the size of the family no one can reasonably doubt, nor call one be in doubt as to the cause of this decline. There is no misunderstanding the statistics. However they be approached, with whatever allowances for increased longevity that can be reasonably made, they tell the same story of an increase in the marriage rate and a decrease at the same time in the birth-rate. And their story is confirmed by our daily experience. Every day we come in contact with the well-known fact that large families are few and exceptional, and that the families with one or two children, or even none, are many. In some cases, of course, this is from legitimate natural causes, and it is not for us to judge any individual, but it is against both reason and experience and indisputable medical evidence to doubt that in the great majority of cases small families are the result of direct and willful human interference.


     Medical men can testify with greater force and from wider experience than any others to the increased and increasing spread of this crime against reason and religion, and their testimony, if it were published, would indeed be most startling, especially to those who flatter themselves that the Christian world is approaching nearer and nearer to the New Church.

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It is not from a few, but from the great majority of their married patients that the request comes to Doctors to assist in thwarting the ends of Nature and preventing the fruits of marriage. In a few cases, no doubt, the request is denied, but in by far the most. we fear, it is granted.

     If further confirmation be needed, a glance over the advertising pages of the daily papers, even of the more respectable ones, will readily afford it. There will find advertisements which, though cautiously and even innocently worded, are none the less plainly addressed to those who desire to prevent the conception of offspring, and are none the less clearly understood by such. Great amounts of money are spent on these advertisements, and the continued expenditure tells its own tale.

     The evil is not confined to cities or to the wealthy, as is often supposed. It is practiced by every rank of society, in the country as well as in the city. In many cases, no doubt, the practice is limited only by a want of the knowledge to compass it. But this limit is fast being taken away. As pointed out by the Anglican Committee of Ontario, the knowledge of preventives is spreading to more and more of the people. It is communicated by doctors unfaithful to their trust; it is given in so-called medical works with the purpose, but thinly veiled, of assisting in the crime of prevention; it is advertised openly and widely. And naturally, the knowledge is passed on from one to another. How often in the private meetings of women is prevention advocated, and the means for procuring it discussed and communicated? Such things are not unfrequent, and even in "Ladies meetings" in the New Church they are not unknown. Not that women are alone to blame. Far from it! A wife cannot be separated from her husband in this matter; and the practices we have alluded to do not go on without his connivance, advocacy or advice. If anything, the husband is the most to blame, for to him is it given that he should be the wisdom of his wife.

     As we have said, the evil is condoned tacitly. Men do not care to speak of it in public, still less to defend it, and, therefore, though the practice grows, its defence is rarely heard in public But in a number of the London Times some weeks ago, prevention was not only defended, but openly advocated for the growth of happiness and order and the good of humanity. The writer, who gives his name and address, is opposing the "theological treatment" of the subject given by Dean Freemantle. His arguments breathe entirely of an open rejection of the Divine Providence, in fact of any God and a regard of self-enjoyment as the sole end of human life. Materialism? Yes! but he glories in the charge. "A man is unwilling....to have his home crowded with more children than he properly feed and train as skilled workmen. If that is materialism I do not mind having the term hurled at me."

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He bases his defence of prevention on the grounds of economy, the saving of worry and family unhappiness, the increased opportunities of marriage for a larger number than can support big families, the Malthusian argument respecting over-population of the world (though it may be remarked in passing, that Malthus never at any time advocated the prevention of conception, his remedy being abstinence from marriage), and increased national prosperity resulting from a smaller and better paid class of citizens.

     His position is that if men had more comfort, less worry, more land, and better wages, they would be far better men; and that one belonging to a small family is apt to be a better man than one belonging large family. Like all others who pursue the same line of argument, he entirely ignores the fact that prevention is more rife among the rich, who have both wealth and material comfort, than among the poor.

     Of course, he makes no reference to the spiritual effects of prevention,--the increased selfishness, the destruction of mutual love and charity, the destruction of marriage love, and last, but not least, the prevention of human souls. He has the strength of his convictions, however, and holds up France as an example to be followed, because, as he says, under her "system" (of prevention) there are more marriages than in England; and he concludes, "It is not a high birth-rate....that enriches a country. The fall in the rate may be only in the lower ranks, in which case it means that they are imitating the prudence of the upper classes, and is a subject of congratulation." From the complacent in which he regards prevention as the remedy against the increase of "the crowd of the offspring of improvident marriages," it would seem to be but a short step between the prevention of such people before birth and their "prevention" after birth. This is indeed the case, and it gives us a glimpse of the real spirit that enters into the wilful prevention of birth, the spirit of the potential murder of a human soul.

     But even more remarkable than the above letter in the Times is that which follows it, written by one who introduces himself in these words: "I was one of a family of eight; I am the father of two. I know, therefore, both side of this question." And from this "knowledge" he proceeds to defend the crime of prevention, not less, strongly than his predecessor: "Why should I sacrifice so much to breed" for the colonies? he says among other things. But his letter is remarkable as illustrating how prevalent the practice of prevention is. "This silent revolution (i e., prevention), he says, Is the more remarkable because it is the only great change of view that has taken place among the English people without the sanction of their 'natural leaders.' No influential persons have blessed it, hardly any public reference has ever been made to it, and that only of bitter animadversion. The law has sometimes been more or less clumsily invoked to put it down.

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It has incurred the hostility of the two most powerful unions in the country,--the clerical and the medical. And still it spreads with the statistical results Dean Freemantle pointed out. It need not 'alarm' anybody, however, except those who require an everlasting supply of cheap labor."

     Selfish delights and material comforts,--these are, indeed, the only defence which be put forward for prevention, and the only objects which its defenders seek to attain. There is no question in their minds of right or wrong; there is no consideration of the ends of creation, nor even of the laws of nature which cannot long be broken with impunity; it is purely a question of what best suits convenience and gives the greatest promise of a comfortable life. And thus men pursuing the phantom of a future comfort or dreading the advent of imagined ills seek to destroy the order which Divine Wisdom has impressed on creation, and they themselves know not what the next hour will bring.

     The correspondent of the Times points to poverty as the cause of this great evil; the Dean of the Church ascribes it to materialism; but it remained for the statistician to go to the root of the matter and point out the real cause. Mr. Devas, from whom we have quoted above, said in the same paper, that "In seeking the cause of such phenomena (i. e., the decrease of the birth-rate), we might be helped by two conspicuous examples in antiquity. One was the case of Greece in the second century B. C., described in detail by Polybius, who gave his view of the causes and remedies. The other was Rome in the classical period of her literature, when sterility became so urgent a problem that Augustus used all the forces of civilization to lessen it, but in vain. In all six cases on which we had abundant information,--namely, Greece, Rome, France, America, Australasia, and England, in many ways so unlike,--the decay of religious belief appeared as the one common antecedent of the decline of the birth-rate. Moreover, the inductive conclusion of a connection between the two phenomena was supported by deductive reasoning that men and women would shrink from the cares of a family where the religious motives for a family life Mills' wish that the working classes should themselves disapprove of large families had been to a great extent fulfilled in England.... There might indeed be special cases of low birth-rates as in Ireland, due to unconnected with religion, but the broad conclusion was that among civilized races persistent sterility implied antecedent irreligion."

     The loss of religion is the real, the interior cause of the crime that is directed against both conjugial love and the love of infants. And what does this show but that there is no real remedy to the crime except the individual one. We can and must fearlessly show the evil in all its hideousness, show the murder that lies hidden within it, teach the truths that bring the light of heaven to bear upon it, but when all this is done the evil will not be checked except so far as the individual man and woman receives the truth.

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There is but one remedy and that is to regard the prevention of conception as a deadly sin against God and destructive of the loves of heaven.

     The fact that this evil of which we write is so widespread in this world shows that it is universal in the world of spirits from which this world receives its inspiration. In both worlds we are surrounded by the spheres of those whose influences, secret or open, are directed against the growth of conjugial love and the growth of a heaven from the human race; who are ever ready to suggest specious arguments to defend what every man unconfirmed in evil knows to be indefensible.

     As one of the writers quoted above shows, "the silent revolution" has taken place without the sanction of worldly leaders, nay, against the voice of theology, of law and of science. The evil springs from the destruction of religion, the destruction of the marriage of good and truth, the destruction of conjugial love. It is not a crime in this world only, but a crime in the other, and it no more needs natural leaders than does envy and hatred and adultery. Nay, most men would speak in public against it, (or at any rate be silent,) as they speak against other evils even though they themselves practice them. It thrives without natural leadership because it finds its promptings in the heart and its leaders in the infernal spirits of the other world who lead men on first to delight in their lusts and afterwards, by confirmations in favor of them, to destroy the voice of common perception from which they might know that those lusts are evil. The followers of those evil leaders are many; they are the willing multitudes of a vastate Christian world, and every man's heart is turned after that multitude, who does not follow the Lord and trust in Him.
Title Unspecified 1902

Title Unspecified       F. L. HIGGINS       1902

EDITORS New Church Life.

     My attention has been called to an article in the Life for April reprinted from the Toronto Star which contains the statement that "a Swedenborgian pastor has applied for admission to the membership of the Ministerial Association."

     Commenting editorially on this the Life says: "Some curiosity has been expressed as to who this Swedenborgian pastor in Toronto may be, the Rev. Frank L. Higgins or the Rev. E. S. Hyatt, but we are privately informed that it is not the latter gentleman." As the inference in the above is that the undersigned did apply for admission to the Ministerial Association, permit me to present to you the facts in the case, which are these: A prominent Methodist pastor here said to me that I ought to belong to the Ministerial Association.

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To this I said that although I had been a member of the Ministerial Association in Topeka, Kansas, I did not think the Association in Toronto would admit a Swedenborgian. He replied that he thought they would, and then added that if I would permit him to do so he would endeavor to get me elected to membership. This permission I did not feel at liberty to withhold.

     Then this gentleman (as he has since told me), in order to place the matter in such a way that I would not be personally subjected to any chance of a personal rejection, simply asked "to what extent ministers of the various denominations in the city were eligible to membership," and it was only in the resultant discussion that the Swedenborgian faith (not the 'Swedenborgian pastor') was mentioned. The Association then appointed a committee to investigate and report what denominations were eligible to membership. It was subsequently found that subscription to the articles of faith of the Evangelical Alliance furnished the basis of membership in the Association, but just what these articles of faith were had not been reported at the time of the last semi-monthly meeting, on April 7th.

     Hence you will see that there has been no formal application for membership in the Association by or for any 'Swedenborgian pastor,' notwithstanding the statement to that effect in the Toronto Star. Respectfully yours, F. L. HIGGINS.

     Toronto, April 18, 1902.                    
(We are glad to correct any inaccuracies occurring in the Life. There does not, however, seem to be any essential difference between "applying for membership" and permitting one's name to be presented. But, apart from this, what has a New Church minister to do in an association of the priests of three gods? What would the early Christians have said if one of their priests had joined a society of the augurs and flamens of Jupiter, Mars, and Venus in pagan Rome? Ed.)

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Church News 1902

Church News       Various       1902

FROM OUR CORRESPONDENTS.

     Bryn Athyn, Pa. On March seventeenth, the Principia Club night, a paper on Swedenborg's Miscellaneous Observations was read by Prof. Doering.

     Prof. Odhner, on the evening of Monday, the twenty-fourth, delivered the first of a course of lectures on the Correspondences of the Land of Canaan.

     The Easter holidays were characterized by a round of gaiety in Bryn Athyn. There was the social Monday night, at which the young folks distinguished themselves by dancing industriously all evening; and on Friday of the same week, the manners and customs of ancient people were very cleverly displayed in a series of tableaux. Jews, Romans, Greeks, Ethiopians, Moors and Norsemen appeared in picturesque groupings on the stage, and afterwards during the evening, the mingling of various gay colors in the dances made a very interesting spectacle for those watching.

     There was no service held on Sunday, the sixth, at the usual place of worship, as the congregation had been invited to be present at the Dedication of the new college.

     Monday, the seventh of April, the regular monthly business meeting was held; and on Thursday evening of the same week, an informal social was given in honor of our few remaining guests.

     The second in the series of Prof. Odhner's lectures was delivered on Monday, April the thirteenth.

     Mr. Bostock has been giving a series of lectures on Education at the Ladies' Meetings on Wednesday afternoons. The course is now partially completed, and Mr. Bostock is on his way across the Atlantic to visit the members of the General Church in England.     L. E. P.

     Philadelphia, Pa. On Easter Sunday the usual services were held. A special feature of the service was the solo sung by Mrs. Herbert Walker. The decorations were particularly lovely, the children and some of the members each bringing a plant.

     On the Sunday following Easter services were suspended here, and all availed themselves of the opportunity to attend the dedication of the new Academy building in Bryn Athyn. A full account of this happy event will doubtless appear elsewhere in these columns.

     On March 19 a dance and social was given under the auspices of the young people.

     Pittsburg, Pa. This March has been no exception to the proverbial bad weather of Pittsburg,--what with snow and floods, thunderstorms and hail, the social life has not prospered.

     A very successful costume party on March 4th is the only social event we have had. Grown people are live children in that they always enjoy "dressing-up." We began the evening with a Virginia reel and ended with an old-time Spelling-Bee into which all entered, with some trepidation.

     The children also had a costume party as a celebration of Washington's Birthday, which they enjoyed as much as we did ours.

     Pittsburg is not often favored by our friends with visits of much length; generally they are of the "passing thro" variety, so we appreciate having had Miss Luelle Pendleton with us for several weeks.

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     We seem to be stealing whole families from our friends in Chicago. Mr and Mrs. Paul Synnestvedt moved here this month to live, and Mr. and Mrs. Ed. Boericke came earlier in the winter, but there is nothing like sharing good things. Chicago has had its turn, and now we have ours.

     Bishop Pendleton administered the Holy Supper on Sunday, April 13th, and also assisted at a Confession of Faith--that of Miss Nellie Faulkner.

     On Sunday evening Mr. and Mrs. Schoenberger invited the Society to meet the Bishop at their home, when all would have the opportunity of conversing informally.

     The gentlemen held their meeting at the school on Monday, and on Tuesday we had our regular supper and Doctrinal Class a day earlier, so that the Bishop might be with us.

     Many went to Bryn Athyn for the Dedication, but those who stayed at home were compensated in some measure by having the pleasure of hearing Mr. Bowers preach and having him among us, though but a short time.

     The only jollification we have had recently was a dance at the School, at which Mr. and Mrs. Uptegraff were the hosts.

     West Virginia. On the evening of March 27th, the Rev. J. E. Bowers preached in a school house, near the home of Mr. Quincy Cresap, in Marshall county, W. Va. There were about twenty-five attentive hearers.

     On Easter Sunday, March 30th, Mr. Bowers held services and administered the sacrament of the Lord's Supper at the home of our venerable friend, Mortimer Pollock, Esq., and his wife, in Wheeling, W. VA.

     Glenview, Ill. On Easter Sunday the Holy Supper was administered to both the Chicago and Glenview congregations. At Chicago, in the morning during a snowstorm, and at Glenview in the afternoon, in very fair spring weather. On the same Sunday two "Confessions of Faith" took place, viz., that of Miss Nellie Larson, of Chicago, and that of Mr. Leonard E. Gyllenhaal, of Glenview.

     At a very useful lecture on the Friday before Easter, the possible need of a preparatory service for the Holy Supper was discussed. The only real drawback seemed to be that some might make such a service all-sufficient and neglect the essential and imperative preparation,--self-examination!

     We have four new members,--not full-fledged ones, to be sure, for they are not converts but babies,--and as soon as they get their names they will appear in the Life.

     A good word needs to be said for our city (i. e., Chicago) congregation. It is improving and prospering. The average attendance at services is about forty, which is fifty per cent, better than that of last year.

     Though this increase is due not so much to the new members as to an awakening of the old, it is not the less encouraging, and we hope it will continue.     L. G.

     Berlin, Ont. The Special Three Months' School, for the religious instruction of children and young people of isolated families, came to a close at the end of March. There were five pupils in the school, who received daily instruction from the pastor. The indications are that a great use will be performed by this school, which is to be a permanent part of our work.

     On Easter, the service in the morning was a celebration of the Glorification of the Human. In the afternoon there was another service for the Rite of Declaration of Purpose and the Rite of Confession of Faith, and also for the Holy Supper. The pastor in his address spoke of the preparation during infancy, childhood and youth for the life in adult age, and dwelt particularly on the importance of young people overcoming evil in the apparent temptations of youth, by which not only character is principally built up, but also the way prepared for meeting the real temptations in later life.

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The Rite of Declaration of Purpose, taking the place of Confirmation, was then administered to two of the pupils of the special school, who are not yet of age. They declared their intention and desire to continue to learn the truths of the Word and of Doctrine, and also to avoid what is evil and do what is good, in order that thus they might be prepared for membership in the Church and for their regeneration in adult life. Then followed the Rite of Confession of Faith, in which three young ladies of the special school and three others of the congregation took part. On invitation of the pastor they declared in unison their faith in the doctrines of the New Church in the words of a new prepared Creed. Then, after pastor had addressed them, they, and also the two who had made their declaration of purpose, kneeled at the altar; and after the prayer, while they were still kneeling, each received a blessing. The entire congregation now sang: "Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem." A most delightful sphere prevailed, due not only to the character of the service, but also to the beautiful surroundings; for the chancel was decorated with plants and flowers, and the young ladies, for whom the rite; were performed, were all dressed in white. At the Holy Supper which followed, fifty-nine persons took part,--the largest number in the history of our Society.

     The attendance at our services of late has been most encouraging, the average for the last seven Sundays being ninety-five persons.

     Our School is having a week's Easter holidays. Speaking of the school, it might be mentioned that our statistician informs us that of the thirty-eight pupils, seven are of the fourth generation in the Church, twenty-seven of the third, and four of the second. Can any New Church School or Sunday School give a better record of families remaining in the Church? Such statistics would be most interesting.

     On Wednesday, April 2d, the Society's great social event of this season took place, namely, the "Kirmes," or German village fair. The first feature was the German supper. After this followed the parade of the villagers in costume, who then opened their places of business; these included an inn, a museum, a fancy-work booth, and a fish-pond. The museum especially was a source of much amusement. So far as a merry time is concerned, we never had anything to surpass this event. And it may be added, that by means of it fifty dollars were realized for the piano-fund.

FROM OUR CONTEMPORARIES.

     UNITED STATES. The Rev. Samuel M. Warren, who recently celebrated his eightieth birthday, was presented with a gold-headed cane by the Boston Society, at a social meeting, held in February.

     The installation of Rev. John Goddard as pastor of the Society in Newtonville, Mass., took place on March 23d. "The New Church in Newtonville is most cordially treated by the other churches. The pastors of all, including Mr. Goddard, unite in issuing The Christian Messenger, in which each Church has a column; and the ministers take turns in writing the editorials." What a mixture it must be!

     The New Church Sunday School in Contoocook, N. H., is said to be the most flourishing of all in the village, and some of the regular members of the other Churches send their children to it. There doe; not seem to be much "distinctiveness" about any of the Churches. The young people of the New Church Society have been assisting the Methodists in their annual fair; add the latter are expected to return the compliment.

     Mr. Ludlow S. Smyth, who for many years has been assisting in the book room of the American Swedenborg Society in New York, has now been made full Manager of the work of the Society.

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     The New York Association held its annual meeting on February 22d. The attendance was small, owing to unpropitious weather. The annual address of the Presiding Minister, Rev. S. S. Seward, was optimistic, and the reports encouraging. The Association enjoys an assured annual income of five hundred dollars from invested funds, and has a large ministerial force available for missionary work.

     The annual meeting of the Pennsylvania Association was held at Frankford on Washington's birthday. Preparations had been made for a large attendance, but only a few ventured forth in the violent, disastrous storm of sleet and wind which raged in the city. After the reading of the usual reports and the election of officers, the meeting discussed the subject of the General Pastor's address: "The Church as the Home."

     The Council of Ministers of the General Convention will meet in Philadelphia, 22d and Chestnut St., in the evening of Tuesday, May 20th, and the two following days. In the announcement of papers to be presented, we notice the following: "The place of the Word, the Writings, and the Sermon in public worship." by Rev. L. P. Mercer; "What is the relation of the Writings to the Word, and of these to the Divine Human of the Lord, and should the terms 'the Word' and 'the Divine Human' be applied to the Heavenly Doctrines?" by Rev. John Whitehead, and, by the same writer, "The Divine Order and Instantaneous Creations." The General Convention will open on Saturday, May 24, at 12 o'clock, noon.

     The little Society at Montgomery's Ferry, Pa., reports an increase of eleven members during the past year, with encouraging prospects for further increase in the near future. The Rev. J. E. Smith, who regularly visits this society, states that much of the growth there has been due "to the opposition of the Old Church." When the use of the school-house was refused to the New Church, the members set to work to build a little church of their own. Moral: avoid "cordial relations" with the Old Church.

     Swedenborg's birthday was commemorated by the Society in Allegheny, Pa., by an address on his life and work by the pastor, Rev. Walter E. Brickman. A confirmation class of twelve young people is receiving a thorough course in the Heavenly Doctrines; a "Men's Class" meets on Tuesday evenings for the study of Conjugal Love. We learn that Mr. Brickman has recently withdrawn from the Editorial Board of the Young People's League.

     Interest in the work of the Church has revived of late in the Baltimore English Society, especially among the young people, who are giving loyal support to the pastor, the Rev. Arthur Mercer. The attendance is increasing, and there is a confirmation class of eight or ten, the first for several years.

     The ministers of the Maryland Association met in conference at the temple of the German Society in Baltimore on February 27th. The subject of the address in the evening was "Loyalty in the individuals to the Society, to the Association, and to the Convention." At the collation, the Rev. P. B. Cabell responded to the sentiment "The health and prosperity of the Maryland Association." Are we to understand that this was offered as a toast, and that wine was used on the occasion?

     The ladies in charge of the Kindergarten connected with the African New Church Mission in Washington lately received a box of clothing for the needy little ones attending the school. "It was agreed that every child should have a nice warm hath in the porcelain tubs in the Mission before it could wear the pretty new garments. It was a hard struggle, and one of the brightest boys, of seven years, was in an agony of fright at the unaccustomed proceedings. He had not observed this custom for four years. Other cases were equally remarkable. Every child enjoyed the results and the new clothing, and came back loyally last Saturday to renew the experience and receive a change of fresh clothing.

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Cleanliness being next to Godliness, we feel that we have really come to the very foundation in our effort to up build these little ones.

     The Rev. John Whitehead is now settled as pastor of the Detroit Society and is at the same time Presiding Minister of the Michigan Association. His family, on their arrival from the East the last of February, were tendered a hearty reception. The Wednesday suppers and doctrinal classes are growing in interest and attendance.

     The Cincinnati Society, on March 18th, extended a unanimous call to the Rev. L. P. Mercer to become its regular pastor, and the invitation was accepted. Under Mr. Mercer the Society has entered upon an era of great activity in the systematic study of the Heavenly Doctrines.

     Beside the Ladies' Bible Class there is a Ladies' Doctrinal Class, at present studying the True Christian Religion. There is also, in connection with the Sunday School, an adult Doctrinal Class studying the Laws of the Divine Providence. In the Sunday School itself a doctrinal lesson has been substituted for the Bible lesson, one Sunday in each month. Mr. Mercer, moreover, has established a "normal class" for fifteen promising workers, in the principles of New Church doctrine and Bible history. Thus, after a dreary interval of many years of spiritual coma, the Cincinnati Society is again breathing the life-giving air of Heaven.

     The Rev. James Taylor, pastor of the Society at Lakewood, near Cleveland, during the month of March delivered a course of five sermons on the subject of "New Church Education," its meaning, importance, purpose, and order. The Rev. Willis L. Gladish also has treated of the same subject in his sermons to the societies in Indianapolis and Glendale, and has organized week-day classes of the children in both parishes "in the effort to make up for the children what they are rubbed of by an education that ignores the Lord, the Word, the spiritual world and all spiritual reality."

     The New Church pupils in the Urbana University have taken up the study of the Four Doctrines, and it is reported that "there is no class in the school in which the attendance at recitation has been more regular and interest in the study more marked."

     At the meeting of the Council of Ministers of the Illinois Association held in Chicago, March 11th, the Rev. N. D. Pendleton, by invitation, read a paper which was considered of such use to the Church that the author, by vote, was requested to tender it to the Messenger for publication. The address of the Rev. E. J. E. Schreck has been changed to 4219 Ellis Ave., Chicago.

     CANADA. The First New Jerusalem Society of Berlin, Ont., reports a flourishing condition under the pastoral care of Rev. A. B. Francisco. The attendance is steadily increasing, the Church property is being improved, and the library fitted up with new books. The Young People's League of the Society, numbering some thirty members, have adopted a "League pin," hearing the photograph of Swedenborg enameled on a button.

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Notices 1902

Notices              1902


Announcements.


The members of the Carmel Church, in Berlin, will be pleased to entertain in their homes the members of the Council of the Clergy, of the Executive Committee, and of the Teachers' Institute, and the wives of members, during the meetings in June. Those intending to attend are requested to notify MR. T. S. KUHL, WATERLOO, ONTARIO, CANADA.
COUNCIL OF THE CLERGY 1902

COUNCIL OF THE CLERGY       GEORGE G. STARKEY       1902

ANNUAL MEETING.

     The Annual Meeting of the Council of the Clergy of the General Church of the New Jerusalem will be held in the House of Worship of the Carmel Church, Berlin, Ontario, Canada, on Tuesday, June 24th, beginning at 10 A. M., and on the three succeeding days. On Wednesday the session will be conjointly with the Executive Committee, and will begin also at 10 A. M.

     The afternoon and evening sessions will be public. On Tuesday evening the Bishop will deliver his Address. On Wednesday evening there will be a general Social; on Thursday evening the Annual Address to the Council will be delivered by the Rev. Homer Synnestvedt. On Friday evening there will be a Men's Meeting. GEORGE G. STARKEY, Secretary of the Council of the Clergy.
MEETING OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE 1902

MEETING OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE       JOHN A. WELLS       1902

     A meeting of the Executive Committee of the General Church of the New Jerusalem will be held in the House of Worship of the Carmel Church, Berlin, Canada, on Tuesday, June 25th, at 10 A. M. On Wednesday, June 25th, at the same hour, the Committee will meet conjointly with the Council of the Clergy. JOHN A. WELLS, Secretary.
TEACHERS' MEETING 1902

TEACHERS' MEETING       EDWARD C. BOSTOCK       1902

     The Annual Meeting of the Teachers' Institute of the Academy of the New Church will be held in Berlin, Ontario, Can., in the House of Worship of the Carmel Church, On Monday, June 30th, and July 1st, 1902.

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The Monday morning session will begin at 10 A. M. EDWARD C. BOSTOCK, President.
SWEDENBORG SCIENTIFIC ASSOCIATION 1902

SWEDENBORG SCIENTIFIC ASSOCIATION       E. J. E. SCHRECK       1902

     Program of the Fifth Annual Meeting, to be held at Huntingdon Valley Pa. (R. R. Station, Bryn Athyn.)

     WEDNESDAY, MAY 28TH.
10 A. M. Meeting of the Executive Committee.
11 A. M. Meeting of the Board of Directors.
2:30 P. M. Meeting of the Association. Reading of Reports and Communications.

4:30 P. M. Annual Address, by the President.
6 P. M. Collation.
8 P. M. Social Reception.

     THURSDAY, MAY 29TH.
10 A. M. Meeting of the Association. Election of officers.
Paper by Rev. L. F. Hite: "Introduction to Swedenborg's work on the Infinite."
Paper by George M. Cooper, M D.: "Swedenborg's Science and its service to Medical Science."
1 P.M. Collation.
3 P M. Meeting of the Association. Paper by Rev. Alfred Acton: "An Analysis of Swedenborg's Ontology."
Paper by Rev. C. Th. Odhner: "Historical Introduction to the new edition of the Principia."
8 p. M. Meeting of the Board of Directors.

     Members and friends of the Association, desiring to attend the two days meetings, are requested to communicate with Mr. C. H. Asplundh, Huntingdon Valley, Pa., before May 20th, in order that arrangements may be made for their entertainment.

     Trains for Bryn Athyn leave Reading Terminal at 12th and Market streets, Philadelphia, at 9:28 and 11:13 A. M. and 1:28, 3:13, 4:23, 5:28, and 6:28 P. M. E. J. E. SCHRECK, Secretary.

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REMARKABLE TRIBUTE TO SWEDENBORG AS A MAN OF SCIENCE 1902

REMARKABLE TRIBUTE TO SWEDENBORG AS A MAN OF SCIENCE              1902

     
NEW CHURCH LIFE.

Vol. XXII.          JUNE, 1902,          No. 6.
     EVERY now and then during the past century, at intervals of some twenty years, there has appeared in the learned world the phenomenon of an honest scientist raising his voice in recognition of the wonderful services and anticipations of Emanuel Swedenborg in the fields of Natural Science. In proportion to the enthusiasm expressed by those who have thus accidentally "discovered" Swedenborg, their tributes to his memory have been singularly unsuccessful in producing any great and permanent impression upon the scientific world as a whole. Nevertheless, they undoubtedly have had some results in certain quarters, and they at least have acted as a stimulus to members of the New Church in exciting their own interest in Swedenborg's Science. By many New Church men Swedenborg is supposed to be "behind the times" in matters scientific, but this notion is due in large measure to a vast amount of ignorance. Recognition from the outside may serve to counterbalance the veiled contempt which has recently been expressed in some the New Church journals, and it is therefore a pleasure to be able to present to our readers the following most recent and very remarkable tribute to Swedenborg's memory, which appeared originally in the Wiener Medizinische Wochenschrift (No. 44, 1901). We translate it into English from the April number of our wide-awake Stockholm contemporary, Nya Kyrkans Tidning, which had copied it from the Swedish version in the Medical Journal, Hygeia.

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The author, MAX NEUBURGER, of Vienna, presented it as an address to the Seventy-third Assembly of German Naturalists and Physicians, which was held at Hamburg in 1901.

     SWEDENBORG'S REFERENCES TO THE PHYSIOLOGY OF THE BRAIN.*
          * (MAX NEUBURGER: Swedenborg's Beziehungen sur Gehirnphysiologie. Vortrag auf der 73 Versammlung Deutscher Naturforscher und Aertze in Hamburg, 1901.)

     In our specializing age it is of particular interest to study such individuals of the past as have not allowed themselves to be confined within the limits of any single specialty, but who, in their unquenchable thirst for knowledge, have always pursued the study of what is great, what is whole.

     Such an individual was Emanuel Swedenborg. The treatment which he has received stands forth in history as a striking example of the wrong which is ever done when we attempt to measure the truly great by our usual categories of learned men. Swedenborg the spirit-seer is known to all, and many believe that his significance is exhausted by the application of this half-ironical epithet. To have anything to do with him and his works is considered as, indeed, straying into wrong paths. And yet this man, during the scientific period of his life, exhibited a penetration in various fields of human research that is nothing less than magnificent.

     History has indeed allowed Swedenborg a certain recognition in the fields of technology, astronomy, mineralogy, chrystallography, etc. But in the field of medical science he has by no means been recognized according to his just merits, and this lack of recognition is due, chiefly, to the belittling criticism of HALLER.*
     * HALLER, ALRRECHT VON. (1703-I777), the eminent Swiss physiologist who in his Bibliotheca Anatomica, (1774), reviewed Swedenborg's physiological works. The review contains so many glaring errors as to quite invalidate the indirect censure which he bestows upon these works.

     During his journeys for scientific research (1736-1739), Swedenborg cultivated, among other things, extensive studies in Anatomy and Physiology, while in Holland and Italy. As the result of these studies he published his Oeconomia Regnia Animalis, (Amsterdam, 1740-1741). In spite of its wealth of solid learning and far-seeing thought, this work and its continuation* (parts of which have not yet been published), did not at the time or afterwards attract the attention which they well deserve.**

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Differing from BACON, DESCARTES and LEIBNITZ, Swedenborg has had no influence upon the development of the biological sciences, a circumstance which partly may be explained by his retired mode of life, his disinclination to agitate his own cause, and also his style of writing Uncomprehended he went his way among his contemporaries whom, indeed, he made but small efforts to approach. In most quarters his memory still lingers only in a distorted image, while his mighty folios repose untouched in the dust of the libraries! It is well, therefore, to call forth his grand figure out of the obscurity, as the striking instance of how a speculative, theoretical genius, out of scantily worked empirical materials, is sometimes able to draw conclusions which reach the very kernel of things and which penetrate far deeper into their essence than the spiritless deductions drawn by the straight laced representatives of the "exact sciences." As a case in point, we need to refer only to Swedenborg's most important conclusions in the field of cerebral physiology, especially in the case of certain points which arouse our interest on account of their sharp contrast with prevailing views and on account of the confirmations which they have received only in recent times.
     * Regnum Animole (The Hague, 1744, and London, 1745).
     ** In a lecture before the Swedish Academy of Sciences (not yet published). Prof. Loven has presented an account of Swedenborg's great work, and has exhibited the wonderful foresight of this investigator. Swedenborg, among other thing, made use of expressions which indicate that he had anticipated certain fundamental facts which were afterwards presented in the work of KEY and RETZIUS on "The Nervous System and the Cellular Tissue." (Note by the Swedish translator, C. G. SANTESON

     In his work, Oecononzia Regni Animalis, Swedenborg pointed out the coincidence of the brain-pulsation with the respiration of the lungs, and he did this on the ground of his own anatomical observations as well as on the ground of the experiments of eminent authors on Comparative Anatomy. Though GALEN* and some of his followers had called attention to this coincidence long ago, still the brain-pulsations were afterwards either denied in toto or else they were regarded as depending merely upon the arterial pulsation or on the active motion of the dura mater.

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But Swedenborg was not misled either by these notions or by certain reported experiments with animals. Ten years after the publication of the Oeconomia, SCHILCHTING by new experiments proved the truth of the doctrine which Swedenborg had defended;--but of course without mentioning Swedenborg's name. Swedenborg himself at that time was soaring in different regions--his "higher mission" having commenced in 1745. But it is the duty of posterity to ascribe to the right man the honor of the correct thought.
     * GALEN, the celebrated Greek physician and philosophical writer, (130-200 A. D.).

     But if in that particular point Swedenborg was ten years ahead of his contemporaries, he leaped a whole century ahead of his age by the announcement of another discovery, for he was the first one to show that the cortical substance of the brain is the exclusive seat of the higher physical activity, the point of attack of the soul. The cortical substance, he says, is where the soul performs its conscious acts, where the world is most clearly reflected, and this alone unites the mass of the brain-substance into a whole and makes possible sensation, volition, and perception. "In hac substantia inesse debet superior illa potentia quam quaerimus, ergo facultas intelligendi, cogitandi, judicandi, volendique animae non in aliqua ulteriori, quia ultima est cerebri, inquirenda est."* As Swedenborg here announces a truth which was not believed even fifty years later when it was announced by GALL,** it may be of interest to follow the process of reasoning which protected him from embracing the absurd hypotheses which were defended even by such men as HALLER, SOMMERING,*** and many other inquirers, not to speak of the men of the more ancient schools.
     * "In this unity or in this substance, there should dwell that higher power for which we are seeking. On which account, the soul's faculty of understanding, thinking, judging, and willing, should not be sought for in some further substance, because it is the ultimate [most interior] substance of the brain."--TR.
     ** GALL, FRANZ JOSEPH, (1758-1828), the distinguished German physician, the founder of the science of Phrenology.
     *** SOMMERING, S. T., (1755-1830), a noted German anatomist.

     This process of reasoning was quite simple, and was based essentially on anatomical grounds. Swedenborg, who, in spite of his spiritual superiority, yet was a child of his times, believed in the existence of "spirits of life,"--"spiratus animales,"* which by all the scientifically thinking anatomists and physiologists of that age were supposed to lead and dominate both the higher psychical functions and the perceptions and motions. Like MALPIGHI and his followers, Swedenborg believed that the cortical substance was the place where these "spiritus animales" were generated, and he believed this to be the case either because of its supposed glandular tissue or because of its very great wealth in minute blood-vessels. (RUYSCH.)
     * With great pertinency we may here quote the following statement by Swedenborg, the theologian: "Very few of the world's learned suppose that any animal spirit exists, but they suppose that the fibres are empty, like dry threads, when yet it may be evident to every one that no such fibre could operate without its fluid within, as a passive could not without an agent. It was perceived that this was impossible, for the fibres would then be destitute of all vital operation, like a vessel without blood....So long as they dispute whether there exists an animal spirit in the fibres, as they may still do for a thousand years, they can never come to the courtyard of knowledge." S. D., 3459. TR.

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     Do not the finest arteries close in the cortex? Where else, if not there, could the "animal spirits" be generated from the blood by means of a most delicate process of birth? Moreover, if with MALPIGHI, SWAMMERDAM, WINSLOW and BOERHAVE, we follow the threads of the medullary substance to their source, we find that they spring from the cortex. This, therefore, is that "medium" which lies exactly at the terminating points of the blood-vessels and at the initiatory points of the nerves, and which, therefore, out of the blood of the former manufactures the "nervous fluid" for the latter. Where else is one to seek for the material substratum of the Psyche, if not in the cortex, this, the finest, most highly organized of all substances?

     NOW, though these premises were generally considered quite sound, still it did not occur to any one but Swedenborg to carry them out to their logical conclusion. Though the mode of reasoning may perhaps seem somewhat Primitive in these days, yet we may pertinently ask whether SOMMERING, for instance, an anatomical specialist, took higher ground when, at as late a date as 1796, he defended the view that the seat of the soul is to be found in the cerebro-spinal fluid? Regarded from the light or view-point of his own times, Swedenborg discovered an important truth, even though he arrived at it by a peculiar method, a method, however, which was not all unusual one in that age.

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The conclusions of HALLER, and many other eminent authors, that the soul resides in the medullary substance or in the medulla oblongata (on the ground that attacks of cramp have resulted from irritating those parts during experiments with animals) are hardly less naive than Swedenborg's hypothesis.

     By the same process of reasoning Swedenborg was brought to another very important doctrine, viz., that the grey cortex is also the supreme foundation of motion, the point of attack for the will within the brain. Swedenborg reasons thus: If those nerve-fibres which, by the medulla oblongata and spinal marrow, are connected with the nerves of the muscles, spring forth from the grey substance, then this substance must be the source of the muscular activity. As the cortex constitutes the chief cause of the spontaneous motions, so the grey substance of the cerebellum and the central ganglia govern the phenomena of unconscious motion. "Substantia corticea et cineritia est fons motuum vitalium, voluntariorum et naturalium."* Besides, the brain only gives the primary impulse: it irritates the spinal medulla, whence afterwards the nerve-fibres go forth directly to the muscles; and certain motions, which originally result spontaneously and intentionally, afterwards become automatic, and take place without the direct interference of the cerebral cortex. By this arrangement the cerebrum is "unloaded," for the purpose of preventing a disturbance of the higher spiritual faculties which otherwise might easily suffer harm.
     * "The cortical and cineritious substance is the fountain of the vital, the voluntary, and the natural motions." TR.

     But Swedenborg does not stop even at these results;--he takes still another step forward and presents the hypothesis that the various motor functions have each their special localization in the cortex of the brain. This cortex, he says, is composed of little brains with fixed motor functions, on which account lesion extends only to those nerve-fibres and muscles which are connected with that part which is hurt. This hypothesis, also, is based exclusively on anatomical observations: each nerve-fibre comes forth from a special "spherule" of the cortical substance:-- the motility, therefore, must be localized, and it remains for the experimenters to show which gyre corresponds to this or that group of muscles: as means of causing an irritation there may be used prickings, incisions, pressure, etc.

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In two places of his remarkable work Swedenborg calls on the experimenters to begin this work.

     He says: "Experientia est et temporis, ut evestigetur, qui gyrus et qui serpens tumulus in cerebro hunc aut illum musculum ut correspondentem suum in corpore respiciat....Ergo inquirendum venit, qui tori corticei his aut illis musculis in corpore correspondent; quod fieri non potest, nisi per experientiam in vivis animalibus, per puncdones, sectiones et compressiones plurium, perclue inde in corporis musculis redundantes effectus."*
     * "It is a task for experience and time to discover which gyres and which serpentine tumuli in the cerebrum look to this or that muscle as their own correspondent in the body.... Thus it may he established by investigation which cortical tori correspond to these or those groups of muscles in the body; but this cannot he done except by experiments with living animals, by means of prickings, incisions and compressions of the various tori, and by the thence resulting effects in the muscles of the body." TR.

     What more can one ask of one who was not a specialist, and who wrote during the first half of the eighteenth century? And our admiration is by no means decreased by the fact that Swedenborg, in confirmation of his conclusions, also makes use of pathological observations, thus indicating to exact science the two ways, the experimental and the pathological, which this science only learned to enter upon a hundred years afterwards? One thing seems peculiar, however. Swedenborg, who referred even the perception of the senses to the cortex, in this case expresses himself against the acceptance of a distinct localization; on this question he assumes the standpoint which was afterwards represented by FLOURENS."*
     * FLOURENS, M. J. P., (1794-1867) a Celebrated French physiologist.

     When once more we review the chief results of Swedenborg's work in so far as it concerns the physiology of the brain, we are bound to state that this work, (the Oecolzomia), regarded from the point of view of modern knowledge, surpasses almost everything that is to be read on this subject in the works of the eighteenth century authors: the deficiencies, the faults, the incomplete p roofs, are such a s belong to that age,-but the thoughts, the prophetic anticipations, reach forth victoriously to the threshold of our own times; these constitute the distinctive spiritual property of Swedenborg, and their verity has been wonderfully confirmed by the most modern science.

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     As has been shown by the instances adduced above, Swedenborg, the mineralogical enthusiast, the subsequent spirit-seer, has directed a deeply penetrating glance into the future development of a science which he dealt with only in passing, during his long career of investigation. As to Swedenborg, the metaphysician, the opinions may be divided, but Swedenborg, the psyche-physician, deserves our warmest acknowledgment. As the motto for his physiological work he chose the sentence of SENECA: "Venient, qui sine offensa, sine gratia, judicent."* The time has dawned when these words should receive verification! We are in duty bound to do justice to Swedenborg's memory, and we will simply perform a long neglected duty when in the future we shall come to see in his scientific works something more than "the dreams of a spirit-seer."
     * "There will arise those who will judge impartially, without fear or favor." TR.
"THE WATER OF LIFE." 1902

"THE WATER OF LIFE."       Rev. W. E. BRICKMAN       1902

     "And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb."-Revelation xxii, 1.

     In the spiritual sense these words signify that the Lord has revealed for those who will be in His New Church which is the New Jerusalem, abundant Divine Truths out of heaven that shine through the Word and are of Himself as Divine Human. (A. R., 932.)

     These words are the spirit of prophecy. They foretell in spiritual language an event which is actual history, both spiritual and natural. It is actually true that there is a New Church called the New Jerusalem; that the Lord did reveal Divine Truths out of Heaven; that He revealed them out of His written Word; and that the Lord Jesus Christ, and He only, is their author. In John's vision of the New Jerusalem, we have a picture, painted by correspondences, which prophesies what actually took place nearly 1700 years later.

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It is the "Second coming of the Lord effected by means of a man, whom He has filled with His spirit, to teach the doctrines of the New Church through the Word from Himself." In His first advent, the Lord came as a man in the flesh. When this was glorified He was Divine Human. As He could not enter again into the womb of nature, even as He makes Nicodemus to say (John iii, 4), but must needs come as that which is "born of water and of the spirit" from "the Kingdom of God" (verse 5). He came as the Son of Man, or as the Word in the spirit, not as a man, but through a man filled with His spirit. "Since the Lord cannot manifest Himself in person, it follows that He would do it by means of a man, who is able not only to receive the doctrines of this Church in the understanding, but also to publish them in print. From the first day of this call, I have not received anything that concerns the doctrines of this Church from any angel, but from the Lord alone, while I read the Word." (A. R., 779)

     "And he showed me a pure river, of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb."

     Water is a symbol of truth. The ancients used to say: "Truth is in the well" (veritas in puteo). The Lord calls His Word a well and the truths in it the waters of everlasting life.

     Water is used to satisfy thirst or for drinking. Our bodies require more water than solid food. Nine-tenths of our blood consists of water. Hence, even what we eat consists mostly of water. What water is to the body, truth is to the soul. Truth satisfies our longings for knowledge. We need more instruction, far more nourishment through what is true, than in substantial, solid goodness. Every act of spiritual life, in order to be justified by goodness, needs previous instruction in the understanding by truth from the Word of the Lord. A peculiar quality in this truth is that there is no end to it. As it is the Lord Himself (John i, 1), who is "ages without end." it is always leading man into newer knowledge of heaven. We know that this is true, because the angels learn from day to day continually new truths from the Word. They are always learning, drinking of the water of life, because it is true and everlasting. Standing by Jacob's well, the Lord taught this lesson to the woman of Samaria. "Whosoever drinketh of this (natural) water shall thirst again; but whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him, shall never thirst; but the water I shall give him, shall be in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life." (John iv, 13, 14.) "I will give unto him that is athirst of the water of life freely." (Rev. xxi, 6; xxii, 17.)

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     You all know why the Lord has instituted a New Church and given it doctrines by which it is established. You know that it is because the first Christian Church has spiritually come to its end through evils of life and errors of doctrine. (B. E., 72.) You know also that the last judgment in the world of spirits ended the power of the falsities and evils of the Old Church from affecting the good of heart and single-minded on earth. And you know, moreover, that through these same Gentiles the Lord began to establish His visible New and true Church.

     These are they whom the Lord describes as hungering and thirsting after justice. "I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the word of the Lord." (Amos viii, 2.) Their lot is called blessed because they are to be filled with the Bread and Water of life, "which cometh from God out of heaven and giveth life" to all who will receive. Unless we hunger and thirst for Divine Truth to instruct us in all our relations in life: unless we love to know truth for its own sake, because it is true, and is the means of the Lord's sustaining our spiritual understandings, we are not humble Gentiles, the poor in spirit, who shall inherit the heavenly kingdom,--the Divine Truth of the Heavenly Church, the Lord's Holy Jerusalem. "Every one is enlightened from the Word according to the affection of truth and the degree of his desire, and according to the faculty of receiving." (A. C., 9382.) They are illustrated who are in heavenly loves, for heavenly loves receive, and, like sponges, imbibe the truths of heaven." (Ibid.) "Ho, every one that thirsteth come ye to the waters! Incline your ear and come unto me! (Isaiah lv, 1, 3.) He that believeth on Me, out of His belly (or understanding), shall flow rivers of living water." (John vii, 38.) Because the truths of the New Church go out of our souls into life for the benefit of our spiritual friends, who are the neighbors, and because the Lord has chosen a few to hear "the everlasting Gospel," the New Churchman should consider his privilege in knowing whom he worships and in being able to have the water of life ever at hand to drink at the sacred well, as in the nature of a divine blessing.

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"Blessed is the man whom Thou chooseth and causeth to approach unto Thee, that he may dwell in Thy courts: he shall be satisfied with the goodness of Thy house even of Thy holy temple." (Psalm lxv, 4.) "In that day shall living waters go out of Jerusalem." (Zach. xiv, 8.)

     But the water of life is not only for drinking; it is also for the larger use of washing. The truths of the Divine Word are not only for our individual use, but for us as a collection of souls, a church. The collective truths of the Word under a general form are its doctrines. The collected waters form a river. Hence, we read "Doctrinal things are the general things to which truths are referred; for the doctrine elf the Church is distributed into heads and each head is a general principle of the Church." (A. C., 6146.) "There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the City of God, the holy place of the tabernacle of the Most High. God is in the midst of her."--(Psalm xlvi, 4, 5.)

     In the holy land, as in the Church, there is a river that divides between those who are in heaven and the Church, and those who are separated and in the earth-life, outside of the Church. In the Jordan, the river of judgment by Divine Truth of Doctrine, we must all, as to our natural states, wash and he clean. We must cease from all spiritual uncleanness, from evils of heart, from errors of thought. We must cease to do evil, learn to do well. To put away the defilements of our unregenerated, ignorant, dark conditions, before we can be white and clean. The Jordan is the river of doctrine which judges for us in favor of heavenly truth and against our inborn earthly falsities. Into the New Jerusalem "there shall in nowise enter anything that defileth or worketh a lie."

     In baptism, we can see the application of the truths of doctrine. They are such as will make us clean of our human defilements, because they teach us to know and shun them as sins against the Lord. Hence the ceremony of baptism signifies repentance of falsity and evil and reformation by the truths of doctrine. John the Baptist, the preacher of the Jordan, heralded this doctrine in the clear voice of the reformer. "Repent ye for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Man repents when he acknowledges the Lord's truth and signifies his willingness to learn and be led by it, to wash and be clean.

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He reforms when he changes his own conceits and highly valued opinions for the teachings which reveal their nature and show him what is good and true for him. Whenever we give up some inherited or acquired human opinion in favor of what we learn from the doctrines of our Church, we are being spiritually washed in the river of divine truths, we are baptized, we repent, we are reformed. Let us remember this truth when we are tempted to follow our own wants and opinions, and let us prove that we are true, sincere New Churchmen by denying ourselves in order to follow the Master Truth of our Divine doctrines. "A Church cannot exist without doctrine" any more than the land can exist without rivers of water. (A. C., 769.) In the spiritual sense, "land signifies the Church for the sake of which doctrine exists." (A. C., 2500.) "As the Lord is the Word, He is also doctrine." (A. C., 2533.) "Divine doctrine is Divine Truth and Divine Truth is the whole Word of the Lord." (A. C., 3712.)

     To disregard the doctrines of our Church is to reject the Lord, the Word, heaven and all spiritual life. "The spiritual of man is born from the affection of the knowledges of truth from. doctrine." (A. C., 2691.) "Hear, O earth, the words of My mouth, My doctrine shall drop as the rain; because I will publish the name of the Lord; ascribe ye greatness unto our God." (Deut. xxxii, 1, 2, 3.)

     The river of the water of life signifies the doctrine which is lived, because it is true. Although doctrine establishes the Church, "it is not called the Church, because doctrinal things from the Word are there, but because they live according to doctrine from the Word, so that doctrine is the rule of life. They who live contrary to doctrine are further outside the Church than the Gentiles." (A. C., 6637) "They who at heart deny the doctrines of the Church, revile them, even if they orally praise and talk about them." (A. C., 9222.)

     "He that is not with Me is against Me; and he that gathereth not with Me scattereth abroad. (Matthew xii, 30). "Ye indeed Praise Me with your lips, but your heart is far from Me. In vain do ye worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. (Matt. xv, 8, 9.) When we come to think of faith we usually consider it as our doctrinal belief.

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But the essential character of faith is not so much our attitude of mind toward knowledge in spiritual things, as the character of life which that knowledge promotes. Faith is living; it is religion, all of which has relation to life. "Faith enters man and becomes his, when he wills and loves that which he knows and perceives; meanwhile it is outside of him. (N. J. H. D., 110.) "Faith is the affection of truth from willing truth because it is truth." (Ibid., 112.) Those who love truth are easily led to "seek" and to "find" it. (A. C., 904) "From the love of truth proceeds the perception of truth; from the perception of truth the thought of truth; and from these comes the acknowledgment of truth, which is faith in its own genuine sense." (Life, 36.) We acknowledge truth when we live according to it. In no other way are we faithful.

     The truths of our faith are waters of life, because they are genuine and regard what is good in life. Rivers of water are of no value save as waters of life. "When truth has been conjoined with good, the man acts from good, and regards truths as it were from good; for he then studies life more than doctrine." (A. C., 4928) Few are they of the present age who are in this happy and regenerate state. Few, who not only repent and reform, but who actually live the regenerate life from goodness rather than from truth. It is more to our purpose to meet the conditions of the present than to dwell on the states these furnish glorious aims to be held before man to inspire him heavenward. We must remember that while good is the first end of the new life, still we must elevate ourselves heavenward, step by step, on the ladder of truth that relates to our several planes of life. We cannot go at once into the celestial from the natural: the spiritual lies in between. If we would dwell on mountain tops, we must first be able to climb hills, to progress by gradual stages from lower to higher forms of truth that lead to good. "Good is first in end, but truth is first in time." (A. C., 5997.)

     The river of the water of life is clear as crystal. The New Church doctrines are clear and pure because they shine from the light of the spiritual sense of the Word. "The soundness and purity of the doctrine, consequently the understanding of the Word, establishes the Church. (T. C. R., 245.) "The Word in the sense of the letter is not understood without doctrine, and doctrine is not perceived without a life according to doctrine.

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A life according to the doctrine, which is from the Word opens the spiritual mind, and the light from heaven inflows into it and enlightens and gives perception." (A. R., 320.) "Blessed is he that readeth and they that hear the words of the prophecy and that observe the things which are written therein" (Rev. i, 3), signifies the communion with the angels of heaven of those who live according to the doctrine of the New Jerusalem." (A. R., 8.) When we are able to see in to the clear depths of a stream, we know it is because the light of the sun passes into the water. The truths of the doctrines of the Church are clear when there is the light of the Divine Truth in them. "There are interior truths in all doctrinal things taken from the literal sense of the Word, for in each and all things of the Word there is an internal sense which also is in the doctrinal things that are from the Word." (A. C., 3464.)

     The beautiful doctrines of the New Church are bright because they shine with heavenly light. Indeed, we are told that "truth is in doctrine as the soul is in its body." (A. C., 632) So the doctrines are clear because they contain heavenly light which is truth. "The commandment of the Lord is pure enlightening the eyes." (Psalm xix, 8.) "In Thy light shall we see light." (Psalm xxxvi, 9.) In speaking of the doctrinal which is for the New Church, it is thus declared: "Because it has been revealed to me out of heaven, it is called the heavenly doctrine." (N. J. H. D., 7.) Because the heavenly doctrines throw out heavenly light upon every principle of truth we thus read: "And he showed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God; having the glory of God; and her light was most precious like a jaspar stone, clear as crystal." (Rev. xxi, 10, 11.)

     "The river of the water of life proceeds out of the throne of God." There are emphatic statements made that the doctrines of the New Church come from the Word (A. R., 779), and that they contain and reveal the internal or spiritual sense of the Word. (S. S., 25; H. H., 516; Lord, 63) They do not abolish the Word, nor are they a substitute for it. They merely fulfill, or fill full of celestial and heavenly truth, the literal sense. The throne of God is heaven. "Thus saith the Lord, the heaven is My throne." (Isaiah lxvi, 1.) The heavenly sense of the Word proceeds from the Lord through the heavens where it is established "Forever, O Lord, Thy Word is settled in heaven." (Psalm cxix. 89).

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In no way are the wonderful revelations the product of a man. "I have given unto them the words which Thou hast given unto Me." (John xvii, 8.) For I have not spoken of Myself. (Ibid, xii, 49.) These truths are too sublime, interior and searching, new and varied, to have been the product of human reasoning.

     "And of the Lamb." The Lord as to His Divine Human is meant by the Lamb." As a Lamb the Human of the Lord is all that is innocent or harmless, tender and meek, gentle and loving." The Lord as to His human took on Divine qualities by which He became glorified. He became incarnate love, wisdom and power, but always harmless and gentle, with those who trusted in Him and loved to be led by His teachings So He is Called "The Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world." (John i, 29) It is by the inmost good of innocence (A. E., 314) that the Lord leads men, appealing always to the deepest affections which are also the most lamblike, trustful, tender, innocent. The Lamb who is in the midst of the throne shall lead them. (Rev. vii, 17.) The river of the water of life proceeded out of the throne of the Lamb. "Nothing whatever of doctrine can proceed from the Divine Itself, except through the Divine Human, that is the Word." (A. C., 5321) From Him is also the brilliancy that sparkles through His blessed doctrines For "in Him is life and the life is the light of men. (John i, 4.)

     Shall we not love and esteem the river of the water of life. We ought to remind ourselves frequently "that nothing which is of doctrine, nor even anything which is of knowledge, can enter man, except by means of affections; for there is life in affections; but not in truths of doctrine and knowledge without them." (A.C. 3849.) "The reason the spiritual sense of the Word is at this day disclosed, is that the doctrine of genuine truth has now been revealed, and this doctrine and no other agrees with the spiritual sense of the Word." (S. S., 25: H., 516.) "For the doctrine of genuine truth comes from no other source than through heaven from the Lord." (Lord 63.) "They who do not care for doctrine have not a fixed, but a vague faith, therefore they have no intellectual that can be enlightened in the other life." (S. D., 5474.) "They who are in no doctrine are not able to be in heaven." (L. D., 5471)

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"They who are in natural good, not spiritual, who did not receive any commandments from doctrine, have no plane into which heaven can operate." (A. C., 5032.) "And it is just as necessary to remember that doctrinal things are but means for arriving at good as at their end." (A. C., 5997.) "Thou wilt show me the Path of life." (Psalm xvi, 11.) "To receive divine truth is to make what is of doctrine become of life." (A. C., 5068) "The doctrine of the Church must be from the Word." (A. C., 10673; H. H., 311.) "The doctrine of love to the Lord is contained in the inmost sense of the Word; but the doctrine of spiritual love in the internal sense." (H. D., 107.) Spiritual love is love for our spiritual friends, the neighbor. We show our love for the Lord by our love for each other. "As I have loved you that you also love one another." (John xiii, 34) "Love toward the neighbor consists in this; that they love to do those things which the doctrine of their Church dictates." (S. D., 5152e) Did we all do this what a united, strong Church we would become. "As to doctrine, we should be conjoined and become one people." (A. C., 4468) We should realize the blessed words: "Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity." (Psalm cxxxiii, 1.) For certainly the angel of the Lord would show us "the pure river of the water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.--Amen.
NINETEENTH OF JUNE 1902

NINETEENTH OF JUNE       R. EVELYN FRANKISH       1902

The seasons fade and blossom,
     Controlled by a hand Divine;
And ever the glad spring follows
     After the year's decline.

The smiles and the tears of April
     Whisper of blossoming Mays;
But the fullest joy of the spring-time
     Comes with the glad June days.

A meaning of holier import
     Dwells in these days of June,
Than breathes in the breath of the flowers,
     Or speaks in the songster's tune.

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'Tis June, with its wealth of beauty,
     That heralds forth the day
When, in the world, transcendent
     God's truth again held sway.

The day when the greater Revealer
     His chosen twelve did call,
To spread in His spiritual kingdom
     The crowning Church of all.

What glory of glad rejoicing
     Followed the Word they taught
To the myriads whose minds were opened
     To the light of heavenly thought!

How fruitful that field of labor
     Compared with the one below,
Where the sheaves of their scattered harvest
     Were gathered in want and woe.

Through the mists, which clouded their pathway,
     Had fallen a luminous ray,
And things once obscured by shadow
     Lay bathed in the splendor of day.

They taught with the glad conviction
     Which perfect knowledge brings,
That the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour
     Was the Infinite King of Kings.

And the angels sang rejoicing,
     Around the throne of heaven:
"Unto them which sat in darkness
     Behold, a Light is given."

Then, Hail! to the glad Nineteenth,
     Our glorious festival day!
And render thanks for the blessings
     Which gladden our earthly way.

Bright, happy homes created
     Through true Conjugial Love,
The fair, yet imperfect emblems
     Of heavenly homes above.

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Glad youth and innocent childhood,
     Fair flowers that round us unfold,
The friendships whose ties are welded
     By love that will never grow cold.

Within us that spiritual increase
     Which ultimate things but proclaim,
Affection for true love and wisdom
     Enkindling our altars to flame.

Then join in our feast of gladness
     With hand clasping hand once more,
In thought and in heart united
     With the friends that have gone before.

Conjoined with the hosts of angels
     Loud swells our chorus of praise,
And the heavenly spheres around us
     Our hearts and minds upraise.

We wander beside the still waters,
     And linger in pastures of green,
To turn, renewed for our journey,
     The Valley of Shadows between.

Teach us, our Father in Heaven,
     Humility to feel,
As here, in love united,
     Before Thy throne we kneel;

Patience and glad confiding
     In the love that can never cease,
Which shall shelter the New Jerusalem
     In the folds of Infinite peace.           R. EVELYN FRANKISH

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"ANNOTATA DE CALVINO." 1902

"ANNOTATA DE CALVINO."       Rev. ALFRED ACTON       1902

     A DESCRIPTION OF ONE OF THE SWEDENBORG MSS.

     THE Manuscript in which the original of the three following "Minor works of Swedenborg" is contained constitutes Codex 48, of the Swedenborg MSS., preserved in the library of the Royal Academy of Sciences, in Stockholm. It is a long, narrow folio volume of good paper, bound in parchment, and marked on the back "No. 48, Annotata de Calvino" (Notes on Calvin). Of its 279 pages only 18 contain writing, some of them having no more than a few words in correction of the opposite page. The writing, moreover, is not consecutive, many blank pages occurring between the different sections of the book.

     In the catalogue prepared by Swedenborg's heirs in 1772, at the time the MSS. were delivered into the custody of the Royal Academy, Codex 48 is described as follows: "Vol. V consists of 247 pp.* mostly blank; but on p. 3 there are some notes on the Council of Trent; on p. 7 some of the author's own memorabilia respecting his conversations with Calvin; on p. 111 the God and Saviour Jesus Christ is treated of and on p. 201 the Doctrine of the New Church is contained in a summary." (Documents concerning Swedenborg, II., p. 782.) In Pernety's catalogue, published in 1782, which was prepared by Augustus Nordenskold, the same MS. is described as containing an "Index of the work entitled Concordia Pia, Leipzig, 1756 Remarks on the Council of Trent. Memorabilia of the author's conversations with Calvin. Concerning God the Saviour Jesus Christ. Doctrine of the New Church, etc." (Ibid, p. 788.)
     * In the MS. the last page, numbered 275, is fastened to the back cover and was evidently not counted by the heirs. In addition to these 275 pp. there are two unnumbered pages which were passed over in the paging of the volume.

     The first sentence of this latter entry indicates that some other MS., probably Codex 501 is included in the description of Codex 48.

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For Pernety's catalogue makes no mention of an "Index to the Concordia Pia" as a separate MS., whereas, in the catalogue prepared by Swedenborg's heirs, one MS. (now Codex 50) is entered as containing such an index, and another separate MS. (Now Codex 47) as seeming "also to have been intended for an index of the same kind." (Ibid, pp. 752, 783) Moreover, in Chastanier's catalogue, published in 1785, we find an "Index of a book entitled Concordia Pia" entered as a separate item. (Ibid, p. 793.)

     In the catalogue prepared in 1787, in which the Swedenborg MSS. in the library of the Royal Academy are for the first time classified and numbered, Codex 48 first appears under its present title, "No. 48, Annotata de Calvino." The same entry occurs in the official catalogue published a few years later, but with the addition of the words, "five leaves are cut out." (Ibid, p. 799.) Of these missing leaves we shall have more to say below.

     In 1860 the contents of Codex 48 were published by Dr. Immanuel Tafel under the auspices of the Swedenborg Society, of London, to which the MS. was loaned by the Royal Academy for this purpose. This publication was issued as Diarii Spiritualis Partis VII., Sectio V., with the additional comprehensive title De Justificatione, Colloquia cum Calvino et 50 ejus asseclis de Trinitate, de Persona Christi, et de Justificatione; aliqua de persona Calvini, ut et Sciagraphia Doctrinae Novae Ecclesiae. London, 1840, pp. 22.) This little work is generally referred to as "De Justificatione," but, partly because it has never been translated, its existence is not very well known to the members of the New Church.

     The handwriting of the original is very difficult to decipher, and with all his scholarship and well-known experience in the Swedenborg MSS., Dr. Tafel confesses himself unable to determine with certainty the reading of one or two of the words.

     Dr. Tafel's is the only edition of De Justificatione that has ever been published, and from it the present translation has been made.

     On the first page of the MS. Swedenborg has entered a table of contents to the whole volume, which, translated, is as follows:

     [1]. On Justification and Good Works, as taught by the Roman Catholics; from the Council of Trent, in a summary, p. 3,--and extracts [from the decrees of the Council], pp. 3, 4, 5, 6.

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     [2]. That the Faith prevailing among the Reformed at this day is drawn from the Roman Catholics. p. 201.

     [3]. On the Person of Christ, from the Athanasian Creed a conversation with Calvin and fifty of his followers, p. 7.

     [4]. On the Trinity of Persons from the Athanasian Creed; a conversation with Calvin and some of his followers. p. 8.

     [5]. Something about the person of Calvin; his quality, p. 8 end.

     [6]. A conversation with priests of the Reformed Churches concerning Justification. p. 8.

     [7]. On the Remission of sins, Canon. p. 101.

     [8]. On God the Saviour Jesus Christ, pp. 111 and 99b.

     [9]. Specimen and Sketch of the Doctrine of the New Church in a summary. pp. 201-205.

     On examining the MS. we find that Section 2 is crossed off, while Section 7, "On the Remission of Sins," is missing, pp. 101-110 having been torn out, leaving narrow edges, on the first of which can he read the words".... Reformatorum prorsus nulla." We also find a few fragments not noted in the table of contents, namely: On p. 269, a repetition of Nos. 3-5 of the table of contents; on p. 273 four lines (crossed out) on Predestination; and on p. 275, which is fastened to the cover, the words "Synodus Dortdrecht" (Synod of Dort), followed by some Swedish words difficult to decipher: after which come two paragraphs on the worship of three Gods by the Reformed.*
     * For the above description we are indebted largely to the care and courtesy of the Rev. C. J. N. Manby, who has communicated to us an account of his examination of the MS. Mr. Manby's account has been filled out from the "Notae Criticae" appended by Dr. Im. Tafel to De Justificatione.

     Summing up, the matters contained in Codex 48 are: 1. Extracts on Justification. 2. Conversations with Calvin. 3. On God the Saviour. 4. On the Reformed Faith (crossed out). 5. Specimen and Sketch. 6. Four lines on Predestination (crossed out). 7. On the worship of three Gods by the Reformed.

     An examination of these contents shows that the book was used by Swedenborg. in part, for entering a sketch of the work which he published in 1769 under the title Summaria Expositio Doctrinae Novae Ecclesiae. This fixes the probable year, in which the matters contained in Codex 48 were written, as 1768 or 1769.

     On comparing the MS. with the Brief Exposition we find that the Extracts on Justification in the former agree substantially with Nos. 3-8 of the latter, though the MS. contains much additional matter and the internal arrangement is quite different.

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The "Specimen and Sketch," as given in the MS., consists of 33 propositions which are evidently intended to form the headings of separate chapters. In the Brief Exposition, the sketch of the New Church doctrines, is given in 25 propositions, each at the head of its own chapter. Of these propositions, 24, namely, 1-4 and 6-25, are found among the MS. propositions, though there is considerable difference in both the language and the arrangement, and in several cases there are important additions and omissions. The MS. also contains seven propositions not referred to in the published work.

     The fifth proposition of the Brief Exposition (B. E., 30), which is the only one not included in the 33 MS. propositions, is contained substantially, in the two paragraphs on the last page of the MS., which read as follows:

     Where it is demonstrated, that the universal theology in the Reformed Christian world ii founded upon the idea and acknowledgment of three Gods, and that hence, three Gods are taught in the churches and are actually worshiped; and that this is from the Athanasian Creed.

     Where it is also demonstrated that in the whole Christian world, there is, from the Athanasian Creed, a worship of three Gods. or rather [that Creed is], like the shadow following a man which he sees not unless he turns himself, and when he sees it, he may say "charity is the shadow."

     From this it would appear that these paragraphs were written by Swedenborg, as additions to the "Specimen and Sketch." The words "Synod of Dort" at the head of the page on which the paragraphs are written seem to indicate that a quotation was to be made from the decrees of that Synod to confirm the teaching that the Reformed theology is founded on the idea of three Gods. This quotation is made in Brief Exposition, n. 38, at the end of the chapter which deals with the fifth proposition.

     The fourth subject dealt with in the MS. consists of a few lines only, all of which are crossed out, the "Specimen and Sketch" being commenced immediately below on the same page. The deleted writing reads:

     THAT THE FAITH OF THE REFORMED COMES FROM THE ROMAN CATHOLICS.

     1. That Saving Faith, as it is taught at this day by the Reformed, is the same Faith as that which the Roman Catholics taught and also now teach.

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     2. Consequently, that that Faith was not delivered first by Luther, Calvin and Melancthon.

     3. But that these three leaders retained it from the teaching of the Papists.

     4. With this difference only, that they separated from it charity or good works.

     5. That this was done by them with the sole end of separating themselves from the Roman Catholic Religion.

     6. That the faith prevailing at this day among the Reformed is drawn from the Roman Catholics, is clearly evident from the Council of Trent, see pp. 3, 4, 5, 6.

     These six propositions contain substantially the same teachings as propositions 2 and 3 of the "Specimen and Sketch" written below them, and Nos. 19 and 21 of the Brief Exposition. It seems to have been Swedenborg's first intention to write a separate section of the proposed work showing in six chapters the source of the Reformed faith, but that he subsequently crossed off the sketch of this section and decided to incorporate it in the "Specimen and Sketch of the Doctrine of the New Church."

     The deleted lines on p. 273 of the MS. Read as follows:

     The decree of predestination to salvation is the potent will of God, by which, from good-pleasure, for the testification of His mercy and the salvation of lost men, He has deliberated on and prepared means by which the elect might be powerfully led to the possession of that faith.

     This appears to be quoted from some Calvinistic work or creed, and was no doubt intended for use in the presentation of the doctrines of the Reformed Churches. But in that presentation, as given in the Brief Exposition, no mention is made of the doctrine of Predestination.

     Of the two remaining sections of the MS., "Conversations with Calvin" and "On God the Saviour," neither was used in the preparation of the Brief Exposition. Swedenborg may have intended to incorporate the "Conversations" in a Memorable Relation to be appended to the published work; but when he came to write the latter he used only relations extracted the Apocalypse Revealed.

     Nowhere else in the Writings do we find any record of the interesting conversations with Calvin and his followers, recorded in the MS. under discussion, conversations which seem to mark the first meeting between the revelator and the reformer.

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In the True Christian Religion, Swedenborg relates a long conversation he had with Calvin on the Divinity of the Lord and on Predestination (T. C. R., 798), but, from internal evidence, it is clear that this must have been engaged in at a somewhat later time than the conversations related in the MS. The relation in the True Christian Religion presents Calvin as more or less completely vastated; his answers to the various questions reveal an unconcealed love of falsity, and he gives his "confession of faith" boldly and without shame; and at the end of the conversation he betakes himself to a way leading to hell. But his answers as reported in the "Conversations" show that, at the time, he was still in the endeavor to hide the heinousness of his dogmas; he is, as it were, forced reluctantly to admit what he really believes; and at the close of the conversation Swedenborg is told by some priests that Calvin "was an upright man but simple" (Conversations, 6), a character which no one could have given him after hearing his answers in the True Christian Religion. Moreover, in the latter work, Calvin is represented as having gone from the simple society in which he had been to the house of a certain governor, and as afterwards having betaken himself to a brothel (T. C. R., 798, IV.); whereas, in the "Conversations," he is still dwelling with Luther in the World of Spirits to whom he had gone for protection after having been cast out of his former society. (Conversations, 6.)

     As regards the little tract "On God the Saviour" an examination of its contents does not suggest that it was intended as a part of the Brief Exposition. In the latter work the object is to show the falses of the Old Church, and to contrast them with the doctrines of the New Church. But in the former, which treats of the Incarnation, Swedenborg goes into many particulars of the true doctrine, but draws no contrast whatever with the falsities of the Old Church, to which, indeed, he scarcely alludes.

     Having thus considered all the present contents of Codex 48, we now turn our attention to the five missing leaves to which we have referred above. Treating of these missing leaves, Dr. R. L. Tafel writes: "On the cover of the volume, before p. 1, is written 'Canons, p. 101. The body and digest of the confessions of the faith of the Reformed, Geneva, 1654.' This seems to indicate the original contents of this section of the Codex.

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But at a later period, Swedenborg appears to have entered there [i. e., on the missing pages] a summary of his treatise, entitled 'Coronis, or Appendix to the True Christian Religion,' which summary was published by Dr. Im. Tafel in 1848 in the Diarium Spirituale, Part VII., App. I." (Dec. II., p. 850)

     Dr. Tafel bases this conjecture upon a statement written by A. Nordenskold under whose superintendence the "Summary of the Coronis," together with the "Abomination of Desolation and the Invitation to the New Church," was copied between 1783 and 1788, from the original MSS. At the close of this copy, which is now in the possession of the London Swedenborg Society, Nordenskold writes, "What has here been copied is the most interesting of all the Swedenborg MSS. It is the last he wrote before his death. The original I have in hand, but I shall not send it until it is required; perhaps in Summer when an opportunity offers. Meanwhile the copy itself may be examined carefully by 'Adjunct' [Curate] Knos or Pastor Tyheck, and put into such a shape that it may be printed.... I have not spoken quite truly. The original is in Stockholm in narrow oblong folio volumes, bound in parchment marked No. 50 and also No. 48 in the Academy of Sciences. I am anxious that this copy should be most carefully examined, and afterwards printed together with the Coronis." (Dec. II., p. 850.)

     After quoting the above, Dr. Tafel continues: "When this statement of A. Nordenskold is carefully considered it appears plainly that the 'Summary of the Coronis' was originally in Codex 48, but was afterwards torn out. That this coder was intact at the time when it was delivered by Swedenborg's heirs to the Academy appears from the circumstance that they gave a pretty accurate account of the contents of the volume, but did not mention the fact of five leaves being torn out; which, nevertheless, is a very palpable fact in connection with it. But if these leaves were not then torn out, it follows that the 'Summary of the Coronis' did not then have a special title in the volume; for if it had, Swedenborg's heirs would have noticed it, as they did in the case of the other sections contained in the coder." (Ibid, p. 851.)

     At first sight, Dr. Tafel's conclusion, based as it is on Nordenskold's direct statement, appears to be most highly probable, and indeed indisputable; but a careful examination of the contents of Codex 48 brings to light several facts of no little weight in disproof of Nordenskold's assertion.

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     (1). In Swedenborg's table of contents to the Codex, only the first of the missing pages is referred Ito, as follows: "De Remissione Peccatorum, Canon, p. 101." Now, if we examine the whole table we will find that, without a single exception, Swedenborg gives the number not merely of the first page of an article, but of every page on which that article is written. Thus the extracts on Justification are referred to as being contained on "pp. 3, 4, 5, 6;" the section on "God the Saviour" as being on "pp. 111 et 99b," and the "Specimen and Sketch" as on "p. 201-205." From this it appears that the section on the "Remission of Sins" occupied only a single page, namely, 101.

     (2.) By comparing the table of contents with the body of the manuscript, we further find that, with the exception of the four deleted lines on page 273 and the fragments on page 275, Swedenborg has noted in that table every article in the volume; and since only the article on the first of the missing pages is referred to, it would naturally follow that the rest of those pages were blank.

     (3.) It is true that had the Summary of the Coronis been entered on these pages, it would occupy just about four pages; and, provided one side of the leaf only were written, this would account for the whole of the ten missing pages, i. e., "The Remission of Sins," p. 101, and the Summary, pp. 103, 105, 107 and 109. But when we consider that every other article, even the article of a few lines only on p. 201, has a heading, we can hardly suppose that what must have been a somewhat closely written article occupying four whole pages would be without a title or heading of any sort.

     (4.) But even granting that the Summary of the Coronis was contained in the codex and was without a heading, it seems unreasonable to assume that Swedenborg's heirs, who gave so particular and correct an account of the contents of Codex 48, should have made no mention of four pages of writing. The omission would appear to be especially remarkable in view of the fact that in the whole volume of 279 pages only 23 pages (if we include the five missing pages) contained writing of any sort; and, of the further fact, that the Summary of the Coronis would have constituted the second longest article in the whole book.

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     (6). Passing by the somewhat remarkable contradiction contained in Nordenskold's statement, it is by no means unlikely that he was mistaken in saying that the original of part of the MSS. to which he referred was contained in Codex 48. This appears the less improbable when we consider the confusion existing in Pernety's catalogue of Swedenborg's MSS., between Codex 48 and some other MS., probably Codex 50. Moreover, Nordenskold describes his MSS, as being "the last Swedenborg wrote before his death;" and in the catalogue prepared in 1787 (under the auspices of the Exegetic Philanthropic Society of which Nordenskold was an active member) we find almost the same words used in the description of Codex 50. "An Index of the Concordia book, with several interesting matters Swedenborg wrote just before his death." (Dec. 1., p. 796.) As Codex 50 is lost, having been borrowed by Nordenskold and never returned, it is of course impossible to state with certainty that the Summary of the Coronis was contained therein; but it seems most probable.

     (7). The reasons we have adduced all point to the conclusion that of the ten missing pages of Codex 48 nine were blank, or, at any rate, did not contain the Summary of the Coronis. And this conclusion is further confirmed by evidence which goes to prove that the missing pages were torn out by Swedenborg himself prior to the time he wrote the article on page 111 "On God the Saviour." In the table of contents, that article is referred to as being on pages "101 and 99b." It begins on page 111 and is continued and concluded on the obverse side of page 99 (i. e., 99b), which, owing to the pages torn out, faces page 111. Had pages 101-110 been in the book at the time the article was written, it would be scarcely probable that, coming to the bottom of Page 101, Swedenborg would have turned back several pages, blank or written, and concluded his article on page 99b, especially since all the pages following page 111 up to page 199 are blank. But, granting that he had already torn out the pages intervening between 101 and 99b, it would be quite natural for him to continue the writing commenced on page 111 to the opposite page instead of turning over and continuing on Page 112 or 113.

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     (8). That the heirs make no note of any missing pages is no more remarkable than the fact that Dr. Im. Tafel makes no mention of them, although there is no doubt they were missing at the time he edited the manuscript. It would certainly be more remarkable had Swedenborg's heirs omitted to make any mention of four written pages.

     The section "On the Remission of Sins" on page 101 appears to have consisted of a canon, or canons, extracted from some work published at Geneva in 1653, in which the doctrines of the Reformed Churches are set forth. For, as noted above, the section is referred to as "Canons, p. 101. The body and digest of the confessions of faith of the Reformed, Geneva, 1654."

     But Swedenborg tore this page out, and in writing the Brief Exposition he set forth the doctrines of the Reformed Churches by extracts taken from the Formula Concordia, published in Leipzig in 1756 (B. E., n. 9), and at much greater length than could have been contained on a single page of the manuscript.

     The order of works, as given in the table of contents, which probably indicates no more than the order in which they were written, is as follows:

     1. On Justification.
     2. That the doctrine of the Reformed Churches is drawn from the Roman Catholics. (This is crossed out and its substance incorporated in No. 6.
     3. Conversations with Calvin.
     4. On the Remission of Sins. (Torn out.)
     5. On God the Saviour.
     6. Specimen and Sketch.

     In the translation this order has been modified in accordance with the analogy presented in the Brief Exposition. The "Specimen and Sketch" has, accordingly, been placed immediately after the section treating of Justification, the two together being entitled A Specimen and Sketch of the Doctrine of the New Church in a summary; preceded by a Summary of the Roman Catholic Doctrines concerning Justification and Good Works. The two remaining sections, namely, sections 3 and 5, are printed as separate little tracts.

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FUTURE OF THE NEW CHURCH 1902

FUTURE OF THE NEW CHURCH       Rev. C. TH. ODHNER       1902

     WHEN the principle of "Historical Analogy"* has been accepted as applicable to the New Church as well as to all the preceding Churches, it will he seen in self-evident light that the New Church is to have its beginning, growth, and final establishment according to the same universal laws of influx and reception that have governed all past history. Variations there will be, and must be, for, though "History repeats itself," it never repeats itself in identically the same manner (there never being any such thing as the identity of two things or two events). Analogy does not mean identity, but a resemblance of certain respects and relations. In what respects, then, will the future of the New Church resemble the history of the former Churches? In answer we will give, not our own inferences, but the plain predictions of Divine Revelation.
* See New Church Life, Jan., 1902, p. 27.

     THE NEW CHURCH AT FIRST AMONG A FEW.

     We are taught, first of all, that the New Church, like all the preceding Churches, is to be received at first among "a few," signified by "the remnant," or "the elect."

     It would hardly seem necessary to go to the labor of proving the truth of this self-evident proposition, were it trot for the astonishing assertion which has been made by New Church men for more than a century and which is still being put forward as persistently as ever, viz., that by virtue of the Last Judgment in the year 1757, the Old Church passed away in the natural as well as the spiritual world, that since that year there is no longer any such thing as an Old Church, and that therefore the whole Christian world in all its sects and denominations is actually the Lord's New Church. If this were the case, there could not, of course, be any possibility for the Church to begin among "a few," for the "beginning" then would be among very many, nay, all, and the teaching of the Writings respecting "the few" would then be meaningless or false.

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     This teaching, however, is not contained in any incidental remark, but is a universal principle, which is repeated and applied again and again. It is stated first in the Arcana Caelestia, n. 468:

     "In regard to a Church, the case is this: in the course of time it decreases and at last remains only among a few. Those few among whom it remained in the time of the Flood were called Noah. That the true Church decreases and remains only among a few, is manifest from the case of other Churches which have thus decreased. Those who remain are called 'remains' and 'a remnant' in the Word, and are said to be 'in the midst of the land.' As this is the case universally, so it is the case particularly; or, as it is in the Church, so it is with the individual man: unless with each one there were remains preserved by the Lord, he could not but perish in eternal death, for the spiritual and celestial life resides in the remains. It is similar in the general or universal: unless there were always some with whom the Church or the true faith remained, the human race would perish."

     The question as to the actual beginning of the New Church can be solved, therefore, only in the light of the doctrine concerning remains. An old state is passing away and a new supervenes, but the beginning of that new state always takes place with what is left in integrity from the former state. The flower of a summer grows up and dies down, root and stem; there remain of it only a few seeds, but from these seeds there springs up a new generation of plants.

     The man grows up, rich in the loves and knowledges of this world, yet these will all become as nothing when he enters upon the new life of regeneration. Out of the former state nothing will remain forever, except the remains of innocent thoughts and affections which formed the beginning of his spiritual life. These alone can span the chasm between the new and the old, between death and immortality, and these remains, compared with the vast mass of natural things accumulated during a long life on earth, are necessarily few.

     In the light of this universal law we cannot misunderstand the numerous statements in the Writings which teach that the Church of the New Jerusalem, though ultimately destined to "pass over to the Gentiles," yet is to find its first beginning among the few in the Christian World who are able and willing to receive the new revelation. Thus we are taught:

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     "And the woman fled into the wilderness." . . . These words involve that the New Church, which is called the Holy Jerusalem, which is signified by 'the woman,' cannot yet be established, except among a few, for the reason that the former Church has become a desert.*
     * Apocalypse Explained 730.

     "The Spirit of life from God hath entered into them." This signifies illustration and reception of the Divine Truth from the Lord with some, for the sake of beginning the New Church.*
     * Ibid, 665.

     The reason the interior things of the Word are now being opened, is that at this day the Church is vastated so greatly,--that it, is so devoid of faith and love,--that, although men know and understand, still they do not acknowledge, and still less do they believe,-except a fete, who are in the life of good, and who are called 'the elect,' who can now be instructed and with whom a New Church is to be instituted. But where these are, the Lord alone knows; there will be few within the Church.*
     * Arcana Coelestia 3898.

     But what are the reasons why the New Church is rejected by the many and is received, in the beginning, only by a few?

     Let the Word answer:

     "And this is the condemnation, that Light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone that doeth evil, hateth the Light, neither cometh to the Light, lest his deeds should he reproved."

     "Wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat. Because strait is the gate, and narrow the way that leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." (Matth. vii: 13, 14.)

     "For many are called, but few, are chosen." (Matth. xxii: 14.)

     Hence we learn also:

     Few are they who are loves of God.*
     * Divine Providence, 250.

     Few are they who believe in the Lord.*
     * Arcana Coelestia 2094.

     Few are reformed at this day.*
     * Ibid, 2694.

     Few know what temptation is, because at this day few undergo any temptation.*
     * Ibid, 4274

     Inquiry was made in the Spiritual world as to who could desist from evil because it is sin, and there were found as few as there are doves in a wide desert.*
     * True Christian Religion, 535.

     The following striking passage presents in a summary the reason "why the New Church will at first begin with a few."

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     1. Because the Doctrine of the New Church cannot be acknowledged and received except by those who are interiorly affected with truth,--who are no others than those who can see them,--and only those can see them who have cultivated their intellectual faculty and have not destroyed it with themselves by the loves of self and the world.

     2. Because the Doctrine of the New Church cannot be acknowledged and received except by those who have not confirmed themselves in the doctrine and life of faith alone.

     3. Because the New Church increases according to its increase in the world of spirits; for spirits from thence are with men, and [with each man] the spirits are from those who had been in the faith of his own Church while they lived on earth. And no others of them receive the Doctrine than those who had been in the spiritual affection of truth: these alone are conjoined with Heaven where this Doctrine is, and they conjoin Heaven with men. . . . According to the increase of these spirits in the world of spirits, the Newt Church is increasing on earth. These, also, were the reasons why the Christian Church increased so slowly in the European world, and did not come into her fulness until after an age."*
     * Apocalypse Explained, 732.

     A glance at the history of the former dispensation fully confirms this universal principle. The Most Ancient Church began among the first men created on earth,--the Preadamites, who, though not necessarily confined to a single pair, still must have been relatively few in numbers. When this Church, after its golden days of innocent perfection, finally fell into ruins, certain remains of integrity were preserved among those who are collectively known as Noah,--a handful of men who, while living in the midst of a spiritual Deluge of evil and falsity, were saved from destruction by entering into the ark of a new Divine Revelation,--the Ancient Word. This Church of Noah was represented to Swedenborg by the vision of "a tall man, clothed in white garments, in a narrow chamber, by which was signified that they were few, in number." (A. C., 788) There was not, in those days, any "permeation" of new truths among the Antidiluvians. The Nephilim did not, by virtue of the general Judgment upon the Most ancient Church, suddenly become men of the Ancient Church: they never entered into that ark of salvation, but perished, strangled and choked by their infernal lusts and persuasions. But the men of the new Church, Noah, were separated from this wicked crew, and by this separation, outward as well as inward, they escaped destruction. Nevertheless, these persons only formed the beginning of the Ancient Church, for that Church was afterwards established in its fullness among the descendants of Shem, Ham, and Japheth, nations which formerly had been gentiles.

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     Thus also, when the Church of the Silver Age had lost its purity, the true faith, i. e., the monotheistic worship of Jehovah, remained at last only with a small tribe in Mesopotamia, known as Eber, from whom came the Hebrew or Second Ancient Church. And finally, when idolatry had become universal, the beginning of a new Divine Revelation was given to a gentilized Hebrew, Abram, from whose few immediate descendants came the Israelitish or Third Ancient Church. Still, no "influx" of truth into the priesthood and peoples of the corrupted Ancient Church, no "permeation" of light and life in the grave-yard, no restoration of the ruined Temple of the Silver Age. The Canaanites, Egyptians, Assyrians, and Babylonians, never accepted the Word and the Worship of the Jewish Church, but the corruption amongst them increased until the cup of iniquity overflowed, and their idolatrous civilizations were blotted out by the devastating arms of gentile nations: Scythians, Medes, Persians, Greeks and Romans.

     And when the Israelitish Church had lost its representative character, and when the Lord Himself established a new and genuine Church upon earth, the beginning of that Church was again "among a few,"--a very few, twelve men from the simplest and lowliest class of the Jews. A last Judgment was then effected upon the Israelitish Church, but did that Church, by virtue of it, suddenly become Christian? Did it ever become Christian? The Jews never became "permeated" by the spirit of Christianity, but waxed ever more hostile to it, until the early Christians not only found it necessary to separate from them in worship, but even to flee to gentile lands, to Greece and Italy, where Christian doctrine found a readier repentance. And even here, the Christian Church was not established suddenly or miraculously by any "influx" into the minds of priests or philosophers, but in the midst of indescribable persecution it grew slowly and organically by open teaching and by the most distinct separation,--exclusiveness, if you please,--from those of other religions.

     They did not go to worship the Lord in the temples of Jupiter and Apollo. They did not accept Jewish circumcision or pagan washing as sufficient sign of entrance into the Christian Church, They did not favor the "unequal yoking together" of believers with unbelievers in married life.

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They did not entrust the education of their children to heathen sophists. They did not look upon their Divine Revelation, the New Testament, as some new and luminous "philosophy," nor were they continually on the look-out for "evidences" of the unconscious growth of Christian ideas in the theological and philosophical circles of the outside contemporary world. But they were separated and distinctive in all things, in worship, in social life, in marriage, and in education. As long as the Christian Church adhered to its distinctiveness, so long it was pure. But it fell when it opened wide its gates to the lust for numbers and for dominion through numbers;--when, by imperial edict and with the consent of the priesthood, it suddenly was recognized as the Church of the State; when the millions of uninstructed and unrepentant pagans flocked into the Church for the sake of selfish and worldly considerations, each one bringing with him his special heathenism, dressed up in Christian garb. Thus the Egyptian triads of gods resolved themselves into the Athanasian trinity of persons. The Carthaginian sacrifice of infants was spiritualized in the Tertullian doctrine of the vicarious atonement. The Roman love of dominion was "sanctified" as papacy. Apollo became St. Elias, and Bacchus St. Dionysus or St. Denis. And thus the process of "permeation" kept on throughout the Middle Ages. The cloak of Christianity was wrapt about Vandals and Goths Franks, Germans, Slavs and Northmen, but it was the burial shroud of a dead Church.

     Thus the universal Christian Church became of such a quality as is described in the following fearful disclosure:

      That such is the condition of the Church does not appear to those who are in the Church, namely, that they despise and are averse to all the things which are of good and truth, and that they wage hostilities against these things, and especially against the Lord. For they frequent their temples, they listen to sermons, they are in a certain holy state when there; they go to the holy supper, and occasionally converse among themselves in a becoming manner concerning these things: the evil do this equally with the good: they also live among themselves in civil charity or friendship. Hence it is that before the eyes of men no contempt is visible, still less aversion, and least of all enmity against the goods and truths of faith and against the Lord. But these things are only external forms, by means of which the one seduces the other.

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But the internal forms of the men of the Church are quite different, nay, altogether contrary to the external forms.... But in the other life it is manifest that although they had appeared so peaceable in the world, they nevertheless had entertained hatred one against the other, and had held in hatred all the things which are of faith, especially the Lord, for when the Lord is only named before them in the other life, there is manifestly exhaled and diffused from them sphere not only of contempt, but also of aversion and enmity towards Him, even from those who according to appearance had spoken of Him in a holy manner; it is the when charity and faith are mentioned. Such are they in the internal form which is there manifested, insomuch That had external restraints been removed while they lived in the world,--that is, had they not feared for their life and the penalties of human laws, and especially had they not feared for reputation on account of the honors which they strove for and affected and the riches for which they lusted and greedily sought, they would have rushed one upon the other with intestine hatred according to their drivings and thoughts, and they would have seized the goods of one another without any conscience whatever; and they likewise would have murdered one another without any conscience, more especially the innocent. Such are Christians at this day as to their interiors, EXCEPT A FEW whom they do not know. Hence is evident the quality of the Church.*
* Arcana Coelestia, 3489.

     What further evidence is needed, either as to the state of the Christian world, or as to the fact that the Lord's New Church did not and could not have its beginning among Christians except with those "few" whom they "do not know?"

     But it is objected: "this was true enough a hundred years ago, but is true no longer. Since then, the Sun of the spiritual world has been shining upon mankind unhindered for a century, softening their hearts, awakening benevolence, aspirations, helpfulness, brotherhood"-- Are men, then, plants or animals, that vegetate and live according to the weather, without volition of their own! The New Jerusalem is indeed descending from God out of Heaven, but "he that is unjust, let him be unjust still, and he that is filthy, let him be filthy still. And he that is just, let him be just still, and he that is holy, let him be holy still." By which is signified that "he who is in evils will he still more in evils, and he who is in falsities will be still more in falsities; while on the other hand, it signifies, that he who is in goods will be still in goods, and he who is in truths will be still more in truths." (A. R., 948).

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     The New Church, like every other Church that has ever been on earth, began among a few, and after more than a century it is still tarrying among a few, who, in spite of the most strenuous efforts to make themselves heard in the world, still remain among those whom the world "does not know." Instead of causing discouragement and discontent, this fact should be to the men of the New Church a cause of profound gratitude for Divine Protection and an encouraging sign of the healthy growth of the Church. It is to be the Crown of Churches, the Church of all future ages, as different in endurance as eternal life is to the four ages of man in the natural world. On this account it must grow slowly,--not only as slowly as did the Christian Church during the first three centuries, but far more slowly. The slowness of its growth will be, must be, absolutely unprecedented in history. Thus far, after a century and a half of its existence, the New Church has amply fulfilled the predictions concerning its slowness of growth. An impatient enemy has said of it that "it has crept like a sloth through the century." No, not like a sloth, but like the mightiest of trees, which is to rear its crown above all other trees in the Garden of God, and is to endure for ever.
     (To be Continued.)

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Editorial Department 1902

Editorial Department       Editor       1902

     DO THE WRITINGS REVEAL THE CELESTIAL SENSE OF THE WORD?

     The correspondent with whom, in our March number, we discussed the subject of the Writings as being the Word of God, now writes as follows:

     "I admit that the Writings of Swedenborg may be called the Word of God, since the spiritual truths contained in them are from the Lord alone and not from Swedenborg (thence their authority); but I think that the external form, in which these truths are presented to us, is from Swedenborg. The letter of the Sacred Scripture, having been inspired to the prophets and evangelists, is a receptacle of and conceals within itself all truth,--natural, spiritual, celestial and Divine, the one within and above the other; while the Writings contain only a part of it, as much as we are able to receive, and, besides, there are many things in the Writings which serve only to confirm and explain the spiritual truths. Does not the spiritual Word, which is in the heavens, comprehend also a celestial sense? If now the Writings of Swedenborg are the Sacred Scripture of the Word in its spiritual sense, is there then a celestial sense everywhere in them? If so,-if the Writings really are the whole spiritual sense of the Word,-would not Swedenborg have told in words so clear that there would have been left no room for doubt?"

     Our correspondent here raises a question which was much discussed in the earlier days of the New Church: Do the Writings reveal the celestial sense of the Word? Or, as now asked: "Is there a celestial sense everywhere in them? To this question we answer unhesitatingly, Yes!

     Confusion will be avoided if we will remember that it is the internal sense of the Word which the Writings reveal, and that the internal sense includes both the spiritual sense and the celestial. The term "the spiritual sense" is often used as synonymous with "the internal sense," but specifically it means that sense in which the angels of the middle or spiritual heaven understand the Word. In this meaning it is also called "the respective internal sense," while the celestial sense is called "the inmost" or "the supreme internal sense." Both of these are included in "the internal sense," a term which is used far more frequently in the Writings than the term "the spiritual sense." In the concordance the latter occupies only five pages, while the former covers twelve. In regard to the difference between the two degrees within the internal sense, we need only refer to the general teachings that "in the spiritual sense all things refer to the Divine Truth, but in the celestial sense to the Divine Good," (S. S., 80; A. r., 739, 830), and that "in the spiritual sense the Word treats of the Church, but in the celestial sense of the Lord" (De Verbo, viii; 2).

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     In the light of these universal principles, is it not clear that the Writings reveal the celestial sense of the Word as well as the spiritual sense? In the expositions of the Word in the Writings, is there a single verse which is not explained both as to good and as to truth? Everywhere we are most carefully told which word refers to things celestial, and which to things spiritual. Thus universally, the celestial sense is unfolded side by side with the spiritual sense.

     And in the general doctrinal works (which reveal nothing else than the Doctrine contained in the internal sense), where do we find anything of truth alone or of faith alone? The whole end, aim, and purpose of the Heavenly Doctrine is to teach the good of life,--use, charity, love, single spiritual truth is thus applied to its celestial end and essence. Doctrine itself is essentially a celestial Doctrine, the Doctrine of the celestial sense of the Word, and, as a matter of fact, its name is Doctrina Caelestis, even as the Exposition of the Word is called Arcana Coelestia.

     Again, even where the Writings treat of such distinctively spiritual subjects as truth, faith, the Church, etc., where do we find the Lord left out of consideration? Throughout the Heavenly Doctrines, and in every least doctrinal, the idea or thought of the Lord is universally present. Everything is ultimately referred to Him and inmostly treats of Him,--His Coming, temptations, victories and glorification, and the worship, faith and love which are due to Him. His Love and His Wisdom are revealed on every page and in every line of the Writings. What is this but the revelation of the celestial sense of the Word?

     But it may be objected, the celestial sense of the whole Word has not been unfolded in the Writings seriatim, chapter by chanter and verse by verse. No, neither has the spiritual sense been thus revealed. Only Genesis and Exodus, the Psalms, the Prophets and the Apocalypse have been expounded seriatim. But the key to all the rest has been given in the Writings. Enough has been revealed, both of the genuine doctrine of the Word, and of correspondences, and of the correct methods of application, to enable the Church to enter into the understanding of the whole Word in its internal sense,--as well the celestial ac the spiritual.

     "Nunc Licet!" Does this mean that the Lord has opened the portals to the inner court, only, of His temple, but that the inmost, the holy of holies, is still veiled and forbidden? Nay, for the veil of the temple was rent in twain, when, by the last passion, "the Lord entered into the Divine itself, all appearances being dispersed," for "at the same time He opened an approach to the Divine itself through His Human made Divine." (A. C., 2576.) This open approach to the inmost of the Word, through the revelation of the internal sense, now laid open, was represented to Swedenborg by "the veil being lifted" before the shrine in the temple above the gate of which "Nunc Licet" was written. The limitation to the possibility of entering into the celestial sense of the Word lies not in the revelation that has been given, but in the individual state of the reader. "Suum cuique."

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After all, the celestial of the Word, though indeed revealed in the Writings, "is perceptible only to those who from the Lord are in love to the Lord. (A. R., 830.)

     It may seem startling assertion, but it is nevertheless a truth, that the Writings are written according to the law of correspondence, and have within them an internal sense, which is nothing else than the celestial sense itself. That this is so is evident from many teachings in the Writings, which, from lack of space, we cannot now adduce, but it is clearly indicated in the following from the Spiritual Diary:

     "The spirits who just now spoke with me said that in their opinion the things which I have written are rude and gross [in form], so that nothing interior be understood from the words themselves, or from the mere sense of the words. I also perceived by a spiritual idea, that this was so, that they are indeed very rude; but it was given me to answer, that they are only vessels into which purer, better, and more internal things can be infused,--like the literal sense" (2185).

     If the Writings of the New Church are not written according to the universal law of correspondence; if they do not contain within them anything more than may appear on the surface and at the first glance, then they are indeed an exception to all writing, human or Divine. For every appearance of truth, expressed in natural language, of necessity conceals within it a higher, more spiritual or celestial appearance of truth, corresponding to the natural or external appearance.

     "There is a correspondence of sensuous things with natural ones; there is a correspondence of natural things with spiritual ones; and there is a correspondence of spiritual things with celestial ones; and, finally, there is a correspondence of celestial things with the Divine of the Lord; thus there is a succession of correspondences from the Divine down the ultimate natural." For, "the effect must correspond to the cause, and the cause must correspond to the end." (A. C., 5131.)

     This law of correspondence is universal. It applies to all things proceeding from or created by God, and therefore necessarily and eminently also to the Writings which present "continuous truths from the Lord." (T. C. R., 508.)

     The Word in the Letter is written in a continuous chain of sensuous images, which contain within them spiritual rational arcana of Divine Truth such as are disclosed in the Writings of the New Church. And these continuous spiritual rational truths of the Writings must conceal within them a highest or inmost essence, or they would be of faith alone, devoid of soul and purpose. A word must convey an idea, and the idea must convey a perception when in reading the Writings, we grasp a spiritual rational idea of truth, does it not immediately, by an internal correspondence, awaken within us a perception of the good which this truth will do for us, for the amendment of our life, for the use of our fellowmen, and for the service of the Lord? If not, then we are reading the Writings to no purpose. But in so far as we will shun evils as sins, we will come to see in the Writings the celestial sense of the Word, the revelation of the Divine Mercy and Love of the Lord.

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     Our correspondent is mistaken in thinking that "the Writings contain only a part" of the Divine Truth. They contain all Divine Truth, the whole of it, for what is Divine cannot be divided. Every Divine Truth contains and reveals all truth, even as every single drop of water reflects the whole The four little books called "the Gospels" contain the whole of the Divine Truth, the whole of the Lord's teachings, even though they do not tell a thousandth part of all the things which Jesus said or did, "the which, if they should be written, every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written." (John, xxi:25.)

     That the "external form" of the Writings is from Swedenborg is perfectly true, since he wrote as of himself, without literal dictation. It was not the words that were dictated, but the ideas. But the images and words in Swedenborg's natural mind were adopted by the Lord for the purpose of conveying the crowning Divine Revelation, and by virtue of this adoption the external form of the Writings becomes a sacred and Divine form.-the language in which the Lord in His Second Coming speaks to the men of the New Church.
Monthly Review 1902

Monthly Review              1902

     NEW PUBLICATIONS.

     The Concordance completed. It was in November, 1886, that we received and reviewed the first number of the Concordance to the Theological Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg, by the Rev. John Faulkner Potts, B. A., and now we have received the one hundred and eighteenth part, which completes the sixth and last volume of this stupendous, this monumental work. But adjectives fail us; they were all exhausted at the "Concordance Banquet" a Year ago. The present number completes the Latin-English vocabulary and contains, besides, a table of twelve columns of references to passages which are repeated verbatim twice or oftener in the Writings, and also six columns of "Errata et Corrigenda," a list which is surprisingly short when we consider that the Concordance itself occupies eleven thousand two hundred and forty closely printed columns. Was there ever made so extensive a Concordance to the words of any other author? It would be interesting to see a review of the work by some eminent librarian or bibliologist. Apart from its contents, and viewed merely as a literary phenomenon, we believe it is unique in the vast world of books.

     Once more we extend our sincere congratulations to the compiler and to the publishers.

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     THE NEW CHURCH JOURNALS.

     New Church Messenger. April 9, 16, 23. Our contemporary, in a series of three notable editorials, lifts its hand against heaven to drag down from thence the authority of the Divine Revelation that has been given to the New Church. Lack of space at present prevents our reviewing these editorials as they deserve, but we hope in our next issue to return to the subject. Now we can only give the conclusions at which the editors arrive, but in the meantime we would recommend them to the serious attention of our readers, as exhibiting, in glaring light, the raison d'etre for the separation of the General Church from the Convention. In the first editorial, on "the Internal Sense of the Word and the Writings of Swedenborg" the Messenger comes to the conclusion that what "Swedenborg saw" in his internal mind was all right, but that what he wrote down may be all wrong. In the next, on "the Vast Significance of a Revelation addressed to Man's Understanding," the editors issue this pronunciamento: "Because the New Church is addressed to the understanding in matters of faith, it utterly renounces authority,"--Divine as well as human. And in the third, "As to the Internal Sense being Dictated to Swedenborg." they not only give the lie direct to Swedenborg's own plain statement, but unblushingly proclaim that "these Writings are Swedenborg's and not the Lord's." Apart from the mere "conception of the Spiritual Sense of the Word which Swedenborg had in mind when he wrote," the Writings "should be regarded as possessing no quality that would differentiate them in any unique way from the writings of other men." At last the festering virus has broken out.

     Having devoted three editorials to the spirit of negation, the Messenger finally allows a column and a half, under "Contributed," to an abstract of a paper by the Rev. W. L. Gladish, on the affirmative side. But in that brief space Mr. Gladish effectually disperses the great cloud of editorial fog, and lets the light shine for those who have eyes to see. It is one of the best things that we have seen on the subject under consideration, and contains many new and striking thoughts. We will reproduce the article in our next for the benefit of our readers.

     May 7. The Swedenborg Scientific Association, which is in no wise identified with the Convention or with any other ecclesiastical body, will be painfully surprised at the editorial treatment it receives from the Messenger. It is difficult to understand how the editorial on the "Twelve Gates" could have been inserted, considering that the Rev. Frank Sewall and the Rev. T. F. Wright are both of them connected with the editorial staff, and are also members of the Scientific Association. The writer, who is unique in his pompous, patronizing and dictatorial style, describes the Association and its journal (The New Philosophy) as constantly criticizing the Convention "and insisting on the need of such criticising" in order to "keep up the alertness and retain the support of its partisans." Now, this is downright injustice. The Scientific Association, or its Journal, has never had a word to say about the Convention, either for or against it, but deals in the most inoffensive manner possible with subjects far removed from the sphere of the Convention, subjects such as the mechanism of the brain, the appearance of new stars, etc.

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It seems impossible to escape the Inclusiveness" of the Convention. Were the Association to meet in the moon, in the month of May, the Messenger would surely claim it as part of the Convention, in order to administer a castigation!

     The New Church Review. April. The leading article of this number, on "The Evolution of Man," by Rev. H. Clinton Hay, deals with matters of such importance that lack of space compels us to reserve the review of it until our July issue.

     The article by Rev. W. L. Gladish on "The connected internal sense of the Old Testament" reveals its author in the enterprising, though somewhat rash, attempt to set forth, as a connected whole, the general internal sense of the Old Testament. That there is in the Word a connected and continuous internal sense is plainly taught in the Writings, but what it is, has not been revealed. It is small wonder then that Mr. Gladish, with all his industry in the study of passages, has been able to present no more to his readers than probabilities and conjectures, bordering at times on pure speculation The very nature of the Divine Word would suggest that it cannot be seen as a whole except by the Lord alone. We are told that no angel can see the whole of heaven, but they are sometimes permitted to see large societies in a human form, and from these they conclude concerning the whole. If this is true of Heaven, how much more is it true of the Word which is the Lord Himself!

     It is not often that the Review has an article containing so little food for New Church men as "The New Religion, of Mr. George Trobridge, which is evidently addressed to an Old Church audience. It commences with the statement that "at the opening of the twentieth century the world is waiting for a new religion." There is a familiar sound about this sentence, and we at once recognize an old acquaintance of the nineteenth century. It is curious to see how Swedenborg is brought in. He is quoted as teaching that there is absolutely no good and truth in the Christian Church, from which Mr. Trobridge finds it logical to argue that therefore the world is "waiting for a new religion." The new religion came many years ago, but the world seems t, be quite content to keep on waiting. Nor does Mr. Trobridge attempt to present the longed-for new religion, contenting himself with a summary of "Swedenborg's theological system."

     The Rev. E. F. Goerwitz brings out some new and interesting facts in his paper on "Swedenborg in Goethe's Faust." He makes several quotations from letters written by Goethe, showing the poet's acquaintance with the writings of the "Swedish Seer" and his admiration of them. These letters, as Mr. Goerwitz points out, have not escaped the notice of German Scholars, and several of them have labored with microscopic research to find traces of Swedenborg's teachings in the writings of Goethe. One of these scholars has written a special article on this subject, entitled, "Swedenborg in Faust."

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It occupies to pages of a learned quarterly, and contains a goodly number of Latin extract from the Arcana. Using this article as his guide, Mr. Goerwitz quotes thirty short passages from Faust, mostly from the first Part, in which he sees the influence of Swedenborg. With respect to many of these passages, it is difficult to see with Mr. Goerwitz, but in others the influence of Swedenborg is quite apparent. One of the most striking is the following from the beginning of Faust; it is spoken by Faust:

     "Now know I that the Sage hath said aright:--
          The spirit world is not shut up;
     Thy sense is shut--thine heart is dead;
          Up, scholar, do not yet give up,
     But bathe thee in the morning red!"

     The "Sage" is Swedenborg. The second Part of Faust shows very few traces of Swedenborg.

     Among the Editorials, is one by "T. F. W." on "Prevailing Doubts," which is remarkable in its outspokenness with regard to the Christian world. "Nearly all (clergymen and Seminary professors) are virtually standing where the more radical Unitarians stood a generation ago. While a man is sometimes seen who is inflexible, the great majority have felt the invading doubts, and gradually have come to receive them as unanswerable. To them the Bible is simply one among other books. As to the being named Jesus, He may have been the Son of Joseph and

     Mary. . . . He may have been honest in His belief that He was the Messiah, but He certainly failed to prove His claim. He certainly did no miracles." The close of the editorial is strangely discordant with its opening tone. The "permeation theory" has evidently got the better of the writer's judgment, and he fails to see what lies behind the deplorable state he so well describes, and on the other hand, sees a ray of hope therein. "Honesty is more hopeful than dishonesty. . . . There is little hypocrisy now." The same might have been said of the evil inhabitants of the imaginary heavens at the time of their dispersion, but there was certainly no approach to heaven. It is in science, however, that "T. F. W." sees "a beginning of reviving faith." "Science is growing- reverent.....The scientific exploration of Bible lands is vindicating the literal truth of Scripture. . . . A light is breaking in through science, and clergymen can trust that source when they will listen to nothing else." Here we have evidence of the invasion of the New Church by the doctrine of evolution,--for "permeation" is nothing else. Is science to rear its head to heaven, to discover Truth and convince ears that are deaf to God? Is the camel to go through the eye of the needle?

     The department of "Biblical and Doctrinal Studies" contains a long and scholarly article by Rev. L. H. Tafel, written in refutation of the "conclusion" reached by Rev. James Hyde, and denounced in the January number of the Life, that Swedenborg, in quoting from the Word, used the translations of Schmidius and Montano, "without himself translating much."

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Mr. Tafel produces an array of evidence that is overwhelming and utterly explodes Mr. Hyde's contention. From an examination, set forth in detail, of 16 chapters from the Word, he shows that Swedenborg agrees with Schmidius in 563 cases, with Montano in 155 cases and in 273 cases he makes an independent translation. "The careful critic will, however, scarcely admit that every agreement is a sign of one having copied the other... So there is no doubt, a number of those cases in which Swedenborg; consulted neither Schmidius nor Montano, though he agrees with one or the other of them." Then quoting a few cases in which there is alternate agreement with cine or the other translator, Mr. Tafel continues." No rational critic would suppose that Swedenborg would thus jump nine or more time in one verse from one translation to the other."

     New Church Magazine. April. The following remarkable fact, showing the prevalent denial of the Lord in the Christian Church, is recorded in the historical sketch of the St. Heliers (Jersey) Society: "In 1872, Mr. Alexandre desired to erect a monument in the [Anglican] Church-yard in memory of his wife, with an inscription that she died in 'the firm faith that Jesus Christ was the only God of heaven and earth, and that to live a life in accordance with His precepts secures immediate and everlasting happiness.' The rector declined to give permission to erect such a monument, and the Bishop of Winchester confirmed the Rector's decision.

     In a review of Le Prophete du Nord. Mr. H. W. Robilliard, after pointing out that M. Byse, to defend his belief in conditional immorality, "simply declares that Swedenborg was not infallible, that he probably made mistakes," continues. "To most New Churchmen the reply will suggest itself that it is impossible to accept or reject Swedenborg piecemeal. His doctrines and their Divine authority must stand or fall together." This is as it should be, rather than as it really is. "Most New Churchmen," we fear, have been brought up in the idea, put forth by the Messenger, of the conditional infallibility of Swedenborg,--he was Divinely illustrated, but his writings are not the Word of God.

     The third installment of "Notes of a recent visit to America" by "B" (Mr. E. J. Broadfield), contains an appreciative account of Mr. Broadfield's short visit to Bryn Athyn. Speaking of the differences between the Academy and the other Bodies in the New Church, he says that he is glad to think that "however distinct may he the differences that still exist, they tend less and less as time goes on to prevent a better understanding between the opposing schools or to interfere with joint action." While we may not altogether agree with this interpretation of history, we can appreciate the friendly spirit in which Mr. Broadfield writes.

     The Magazine, in its editorial, adds another to the long list of modern discoveries anticipated by Swedenborg In the new Physical Laboratory in London a newly designed tank is to be built, in which a ship's performances can be predicted from experiments on a model.

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Swedenborg suggested the use of such a tank as early as 1721, when he published a pamphlet, entitled "A mode of discovering the powers of vessels by the application of mechanical principles." This work "contains an engraving of the proposed tank with many suggestions as to its use with respect to tests" of speed, burden, position of masts, sails, winds and tides. An English translation of the work was published as an Appendix to the Principles of Chemistry.

     Morning Light. March 15. The Rev. James Hyde contributes a lengthy review of Swedenborg's Ontology. It can hardly be called a review, however, as it is devoted mainly to a criticism of the translator's preface, and a condemnation of metaphysics in general. Appealing to the teaching of the Writings respecting metaphysics and metaphysicians, he applies them without reserve to the author of the Ontology, forgetting that Swedenborg was not a juggler with metaphysical words, but brought to all his studies the virile powers of learning, genius and perception. Mr. Hyde does not quote a single example from the Ontology itself to show wherein Swedenborg was wrong; he does add at the end of his review a list of references to be compared with references to the Writings, but the comparison does not bear out his conclusions, and the New Church will hardly be satisfied with this summary dismissal of a work by Swedenborg without a careful review of its contents. Mr. Hyde suggests two or three corrections to the translation, but we note that these corrections are based on a wrong reading of the original manuscript.

     April 12. The following from a short paragraph headed "Intellectual activity of our Age" is remarkable as appearing in Morning Light: "Probably there never was a time (like this age) when there were so many brains pouring forth ideas. There is knowledge to satiety flowing from pulpit, platform and press. The abundance of it, the never-ceasing flow of it are truly astonishing; but not the less remarkable is the Godlessness of it."

     April 26. In the course of a sermon on the Seven Churches, Rev. W. A. Presland, speaking of the doubts that arise from "the confusion of tongues from the world's many teachers," continues as follows: "It is the privilege of the New Church to have access to the Divinely revealed Doctrines... to hear, amid this confusion, the Lord Himself speaking through His servant specially raised up." These are true words, but their spirit seldom finds expression in the New Church press. The members of the Church, and especially its ministers, do not realize their privilege, and even while with their lips they are acknowledging that the Lord revealed the truths of the Writings, they hear in them only the voice of the illuminated Swedenborg, not the voice of "the Lord Himself speaking." Otherwise there would not be so much discussion as to the authority of the Writings, so much following after the strange gods of the world. If in the Writings, the Lord Himself is speaking through His servant then the Writings are the Lord's own Word, for if the "servant" has added or taken aught away, as the Messenger teaches, then the Lord does not speak, but the Servant.

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The question is a fundamental one, involving the very life of the Church. Only as New Church men see that in the Writings the Lord speaks, will they be able to make all things in themselves new; before that they will hear the voice of the Lord where it does not speak.--in the teachings of a false science and a devastated Church.

     The Rev. James Hyde contributes an interesting article on "Swedenborg's earliest Writing." This "earliest writing," of which a translation is printed in the article, consists of an ode written on the occasion of the marriage of Swedenborg's cousin Beata Hesselia. The Ode was written in May, 1700, when Swedenborg was twelve years of age. Even in a translation it is a really remarkable production for one so young. It shows that its author was possessed of a pious mind and a deep sense of the Lord's guiding Providence in the smallest affairs of life, and it aptly illustrates Swedenborg's statement that from his sixth to his twelfth year he was much given to the contemplation of spiritual subjects. The last verse is particuiariy pleasing and to the New Church man will suggest a reaching of Conjugial Love:

     "Grant that this gentle pair may, in angelic life,
          Together live and be, with joy and pleasantness.
     Let them so stand to-day in their bridal garment.
          That they before the Lamb's throne may be, aye, Thy bride."

     The Ode is not mentioned in Tafel's Documents. Being the very first thing produced by Swedenborg's pen, and thus far entirely unknown to the New Church, it is unfortunate that Mr. Hyde has omitted any reference as to where the original is to be found, and in what language it was written.

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Church News 1902

Church News       Various       1902

FROM OUR CORRESPONDENTS

     Bryn Athyn, Pa. Our Berlin correspondent, in the May number of the Life, states that of the 38 pupils in the Berlin New Church School, 7 are of the fourth generation in the Church, 27 of the third, and 4 of the second, and he suggests that other New Church Schools publish similar statistics. We think the suggestion an excellent one, and herewith present the statistics for the parish school in Bryn Athyn. Out of the 45 children in the school (all under 15 years of age), 3 are of the fifth generation in the New Church, 15 of the fourth, to of the third, and 7 of the second.

     But why confine ourselves to the schools only? It would be most useful and interesting, not only on historical grounds, but also for spiritual reasons, to compile a table of such statistics, including all the societies, and, if possible, all the members of the General Church. We submit below such a table for the New Church settlement in Bryn Athyn:

     Adult members of the congregation     93
     Minors                          133

     Total                              226

     Of these,

     27 are of the 1st generation in the Church.

     63 are of the ad generation in the Church.

     74 are of the 3d generation in the Church.

     58 are of the 4th generation in the Church.

     4 are of the 5th generation in the Church.

     Thus, in a community of 226 souls, all but 27 are "born in the Church," and the majority are of at least the third generation.

     From the 25 married couples among us, there have issued altogether 144 children; of these 12 are now in the other world, but not one has left the New Church. Compare this number with the 27 who have come from the Old Church. ED.

     Baltimore, Md. Since my last letter which appeared in the February Life, our little Society has held services every month, conducted by either Rev. H. Synnestvedt or Mr. Alfred Stroh. The average attendance is 15. The Sunday School meets every Sunday morning in private homes, except when we have services, when it meets in the Hall. The attendance this year, which has averaged about 13, is very encouraging. The "Circle meetings" also keep up their activity, being held twice a month. At every alternate meeting, when we have no minister with us, our President. Mr. Reynolds, usually reads something from the Life. One of these meetings came a few days after the first anniversary (Mar. 24) Of the establishment of General Church worship in Baltimore. We celebrated the occasion in a modest way by drinking a toast to Mr. Cronlund, who officiated at that service.

     On May 1 we had the pleasure of a visit from Rev. H. Synnestvedt, the secretary of the Philadelphia District Assembly, with which we are immediately connected. Mr. Synnestvedt conducted services in the morning, when he administered the Holy Supper to 14 communicants. The total attendance was 19. In the afternoon a number of the members met together at the home of Mr. Rudolph Behlert, where the communion was administered to four ladies who had been absent in the morning; after which all present sat down to a little "feast of charity."

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Later on, in the evening, came the general meeting of the Society. This was called by Mr. Synnestvedt for the purpose of effecting an organization of the Society, which was the special object of his visit. The meeting resulted in the adoption of a constitution and the election of a business committee. P. K.

     Philadelphia. At a meeting of the congregation called on Sunday, May 11th, by Bishop Pendleton, a resolution was adopted, requesting the Bishop to recognize us as a regular society of the General Church. In voting for a pastor, the choice was unanimous in favor of Mr. Cronlund, who has ministered to the society, under the Bishop's direction, since the severance of organic connection with the Bryn Athyn society, some two years ago. The installation was announced to take place a week later.     C. H. E.

     Erie, Pa. The little circle here has lately had an enlivening experience, in a very pleasant visit from one of our former "summer resident,." the Rev. David H. Klein, who came from Middleport, O., and stayed with us nearly five days.

     There was on Friday, May 9th, a doctrinal class at Mr. R. F. Evans', considering the subject of "Freewill." On Saturday there was a social at Mr. G.W. Evans', with games, refreshments and dancing, toasts and jollity. One toast, "To the Babies of the New Church,--the joy of the present and the hope of the future," was eloquently and feelingly responded to by Mr. Klein.

     On Sunday, the circle met for worship, with 27 present, 17 of whom were adults. At the close of the sermon, which was based on Matthew xi. 29, 30, the Holy Supper was administered.

     The same evening, we again assembled, and had singing practice. It was unanimously voted that we had enjoyed Mr. Klein's visit greatly, and hoped for renewed interest in the things of the Church.

     The circle has been very quiet all winter, meeting only once in two weeks, and having two short visits from our indefatigable missionary, the Rev. J. E. Bowers. One of our most energetic members, Mr. Oscar Glenn, Chief Master-at-arms, U. S. N., has been transferred from Erie to Norfolk, though his family is still in Erie.

     On the other hand, we expect some accessions to our ranks from new converts who are coming our way.

     We all regretted our inability to be present at the District Assembly in Pittsburg last fall, but hope for better luck by October 23d next, at which date, Mr. Klein informs us, another such assembly will be held.     E. C.

     Glenview, Ill. On May 7, the Chicago branch of the Immanuel Church gave a banquet to rejoice over the very encouraging aspect of its winter's work.

     Rev. E. J. E. Schreck and wife were the guests of the evening, and their presence added much to the occasion. Eighty-three persons, of whom twenty-seven were from Glenview, enjoyed a delightful repast, which was followed by a very useful program of speeches.

     Our toastmaster, Mr. Charles F. Browne, introduced the speakers with a remarkable array of figures, which showed the growth and history of our society from its beginning. We found that sixty souls,--enough to found a new society,--had left us for other centers, but in spite of this we have increased over fifty per cent.

     Our pastor then spoke for the Chicago branch. The following meagre extracts may convey an idea of this speech: "We will be satisfied with little, but let that little be of the right kind. . . . Let us have no fear in regard to numbers. One hundred thousand men added to the Church tomorrow would not add one iota to the truth of its doctrine. . . . Perhaps the smallest Church in Chicago is the Chicago branch of the Immanuel Church. In this respect it may be distinguished. But we claim for it nothing save the truth. . . . This Truth glorifies this building into a temple of God. It could be no more than that, were it paved with marble and roofed with gold. We are few . . . 'But they that be with us are more than they that be with them.'"

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     After this Mr. A. E. Nelson spoke on the new Council of the Chicago branch. Mr. John Forest gave (without figures) an encouraging report of the treasury. Mr. S. G. Nelson spoke on the School. Dr. Harvey Farrington spoke on "Homoeopathy and the New Church."

     The remarks of our guest, the Rev. E. J. E. Schreck, dwelt on the fact that small as the Church is at present, it is perfect in the sight of God. For God does not look upon things as men do. The speaker illustrated his point in several ways as, for an instance, by the Letter of the Word. Men pick this to pieces, find faults in it everywhere, but in the sight of God there is nothing more perfect.

     After the tables were removed the young folk danced until 11:30,--the time for the Glenview train. L. G.

     Atlanta, Ga. Soon after my arrival in Atlanta last November, I called on the family of the late John M. Burkert and was invited to return the same evening to begin regular instruction in the Doctrines. These Sunday evening meetings have been continued ever since, affording these friends their first opportunity for regular systematic reading and instruction, while, at the same time, they have been the means, in the Divine Providence, of bringing to their minister great and wonderful delight.

     It was my good fortune to be entertained a few days at Christmas by Mr. and Mrs. Charles R. Pendleton in Macon. After supper each evening a half hour or more would be spent in reading from the Writings and considering some subject or special point made in the lesson. Mr. Alexander Pendleton arrived from Valdosta. Saturday evening, to spend Sunday with the family. The two youngest children, Louis Alexander and Frances Zera, were baptized on Sunday morning. The zeal for the Church, the love of Doctrine and the spirit of worship which animated these meetings will be long remembered.

     For some time I knew of only two gentlemen in Atlanta who were interested in the Church, viz., Charles R. Pendleton, Jr., one of our "Academy boys," and Mr. Breezezinski, who has been reading the Writings daily for years. Not being familiar with Polish names, I right away Americanized our friend's name to Brezinski, without alienating his regard, for Mr. Brezezezinski is European in his politeness of manner, and he is as agreeable to talking Church and Doctrine for indefinite hours as though I always addressed him at full length.

     Before many weeks of my sojourn here had passed by. I began to realize that a young man, to whom I had spoken of the Church and loaned some of the Writings, was earnest in his interest in them, for each time he returned a book he took away another, and then he also attended the Doctrinal Classes. With these preliminary historical remarks, let me introduce to our young people Mr. Ben McGee. I would like to tell you more about him, how he steadily won my interest, how he gladdened me by showing those outward and visible signs of an inward and spiritual reception of the Great Light which illuminates every man who is willing to turn his face toward The Sun of Heaven. You all have known that peculiar solicitude, with which you followed a friend's reading of the Doctrines, or his reflection and meditation over some new phase or aspect of the truth, some new conception or idea you had presented to his mind.

     Another new friend is Mr. Donald Howe. "Don" calls on me every day, and some days more than once. Although we live a mile apart he will come out in the evening to take part in our family readings and conversations.

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We usually take up this private instructive work about half-past eight o'clock, and it is often nearly or quite eleven before we lay it down. We like to have Don with us, because he loves to "talk Church" and never gets tired.

     He desires to study for the ministry and enter the service of the Church exclusively, but at present he does not see any way in which it can be done.

     Last Sunday Mr. Jackson, of the Providence Society, but now residing here, saw the Church notice in the daily papers and attended the evening meeting. He also came out again on Thursday night, when we met in my room to talk over a plan for a regular meeting of the men on some convenient night each week.

     Besides the gentlemen whose names I have mentioned already, there is Mr. Lackey, in the night service of the Western Union, who on that account will not be able to meet often with us at present. He has been reading for two or three years. Then, there is Mr. Hughey, of Cascade, six miles in the country, who owns a mineral spring and sells the water in town. His neighbor, Mr. Morrell, is also a receiver of the Doctrines, and, together, they, carry on a Sunday School, Mr.
Morrell being the leader. I am told that there is a school teacher, Mr. McRae, who is reading and receiving the Doctrines, and that after the close of his school work in Columbus he intends to take up another line of work and live here.

     At the services on Easter Sunday I baptized Mr. James C. Pendleton and Mr. Donald Howe, both of this city. The sermon was followed by the Sacrament of the Holy Supper, administered to five members of the Church. The attendance at the Doctrinal Class on Sunday evening is very regular, and the young men are interested in the midweek class for more thorough and systematic study of the Doctrines. I have experienced only a favorable reception of my words for the Life and enclose some subscriptions. RICHARD H. KEEP.

     Missionary Work in Ohio.

     An appointment was made for services at Greenford, Ohio, on Sunday, April 13th. But finding, on my arrival at Columbiana, on the 10th, that, on account of the snow and rain that had fallen, the country roads were in bad condition, our meeting was postponed till Sunday, April 20th. On that day the usual number were present; a sermon was delivered, and the sacrament of the Lord's Supper was administered.

     On Tuesday, April 22d, We had an interesting evening at the home of Mr. and Mrs. John S. Webster, at Salem. These friends, and also Mr. and Mrs. Field, who live next door to them, were eager for instruction on certain points. Their minds had been disturbed by the visit of a New Church minister who does not believe in the inspiration of Swedenborg. Things had been said that were confusing and misleading. But by a consideration of the question according to the Writings, confidence in the Lord's Divine Revelation to the New Church was easily restored.

     Mrs. Herbert H. Sharp was also called upon, in Salem. She, and also the Websters, subscribe for New Church Life, and Mr. and Mrs. Webster applied for membership in the General Church of the New Jerusalem. Three daughters of Mr. Solomon Renkenberger, near Columbiana, also applied for membership during my visit with the family a week before.

     Five days passed quickly, in Cleveland and vicinity. Mr. Roscoe B. Kendig and family, and several other families, were called on. At Lakewood, near Cleveland. I had the pleasure to meet the Rev. James Taylor, who is doing good service as pastor there. I heard him preach on Sunday morning. April 27th. As the last lesson, he read a number in the Arcana, closing with these words: "Here endeth the lesson from the Writings of the Church, which are the internal sense of the Word, a Revelation of Divine Truth, and the Second Coming of the Lord."

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It had previously been arranged for me to preach for Mr. Taylor in the evening. The number in attendance at the morning and evening services was about twenty-five.

     I arrived at Ashland on the afternoon of April 28th, where a visit was made of two days, with Mr. H. E. Renkenberger, an earnest believer in the doctrines of the Church.

     At Mansfield, two days were spent with Mr. J. A. Fankhauser and family.

     Three days were passed with the Burgers, near Gallon.

     I preached in a meeting house in the country, Sunday morning, May 4th, to an audience of sixty-five.

     On the evening of May 5th. I arrived at the home of Mr. John F. Gray, eight miles west of Marion. There are only two complete believers in the Doctrines, so far as we know, in this vicinity. Mr. Gray is one of that class of isolated New Church men who are decidedly averse to the principles and sphere of the Old Church; and the visit of a missionary is acceptable to him.

     On Sunday, May 4th, Mr. T. E. Martin, an intelligent New Church man, who lives in Bucyrus, came over, a distance of ten miles, to spend the day with us near Gallon. Mr. Martin is a reader of the Writings and of the Life.

     I expect to remain in the State of Ohio till the last week in May. JOHN E. BOWERS.

     Parkdale, Ont. On Easter Sunday the Holy Sacrament of the Lord's Supper was administered to twenty-six communicants. The usual classes have been continued throughout the Winter months;--on Monday evenings the Young People's Class for the study of the work on Conjugial Love and on Wednesday evening the Doctrinal Class ere the Apocalypse Revealed is being read. The suppers preceding this class have been much enjoyed. These appear to have nearly filled the requirements so far as social gatherings are concerned, for the only other events we call to mind are a Social given by the Young People on St. Valentine's day, a most enjoyable occasion, and a meeting (instead of the usual Doctrinal Class) to hear the report of Mr. Carswell on his return from the dedication of the new building at Bryn Athyn, which was listened to with great interest, toasts suitable to the occasion being duly honored.

     In response to a desire expressed by the young men of the Society to have an opportunity for meeting together for recreation, physical and mental, under the auspices of the Church, a Men's Club has been formed, including the senior members of the Society. As the season was pretty far advanced before the Club was inaugurated, not much has as yet been accomplished. C. B.

     London, England. On the 8th of April, by the kind invitation of Mr. and Mrs. Dicks, fifteen of the former scholars of the Academy School here, and several other friends, had a social to celebrate the dedication of the new buildings of the present school in Bryn Athyn.

     Mr. Czerny, who acted as toastmaster, gave an interesting account of the early history of the Academy, and showed some photos of the first professors and students.

     The toast to "the Church" was given and followed by the singing of "Our Glorious Church." The toast to "the Academy, our Alma Mater," was suitably responded to by Mr. G. Dicks, and was followed by the singing of the School song "Alma Mater." Other toasts were "Bishop Benade, the founder of the Academy," and the "Rev. E. C. Bostock, the first Head-master of the School in London," responded to, respectively, by Messrs. A. Stebbing and Rey Gill. After a toast to Mr. Czerny, who is labouring so acceptably among us,--the health of our kind host and hostess was given, with musical honours.

     The remainder of the evening was devoted to singing, recitations and chat, and it was not until late that this, the largest meeting we have had of the alumni in London, came to a close, after a very enjoyable time. R. A. S.

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     On Saturday, April 19th, the Rev. E. C. Bostock arrived in this country to pay a short visit to the English members and friends of the General Church of the New Jerusalem.

     On Sunday, 20th, he conducted Divine worship, and preached a most useful sermon, in which the principles upon which a Newchurchman should govern his conduct in his relations with those outside the New Church were clearly laid down.

     It need hardly be said that the privilege of again having Mr. Bostock in our midst was highly appreciated, and to provide an opportunity for the friends to give expression to this feeling a reception was held on Thursday evening, April 24th. There was a large attendance, including a good number of children.

     Proceedings commenced by the toast to "The Church," being proposed by the Rev. Andrew Czerny. All present united in singing "Our Glorious Church."

     The toast to "The Bishop and priests of the General Church" was heartily received, and speeches made by several of the laymen, in which the work of the General Church and our indebtedness to the friends in America was fully acknowledged.

     The toast of the evening was that to our guest, the Rev. E. C. Bostock. This was drunk with enthusiasm, and several very hearty expressions of good will made by various friends. In response to the toast, Mr. Bostock said he appreciated all the kind things which had been said of him, understanding that they referred not to him personally, but to the appreciation of the use
of his office. He then spoke at some length on the necessity of distinguishing between the person of the priest and the use he performed.

     Very important and eminently practical teaching was given in Mr. Bostock's speech, but space does not permit of further details here.

FROM OUR CONTEMPORARIES.

     UNITED STATES. The society in Abington, Mass., after eighty years of unintermittent missionary efforts, now counts but fifty-five regular members, but finds consolation in the fact that there are "altogether one hundred and seventy-five persons in the town that look to the New Church for spiritual guidance." Of these, "forty-five would attend the New Church if they could be persuaded to attend any Church."

     The Rev. Henry Clinton Hay, on Sunday, April 6th, was formally installed as "associate pastor" of the Boston Society.

     The semi-annual meeting of the Massachusetts Association was held at Boston, on April 19th. It was a large and representative meeting, twenty ministers and more than a hundred delegates being present. The reports from the twenty societies connected with the Association were as usual of a cheerful and sanguine spirit, though they "did not show any appreciable increase in membership." This phrase has now become a stereotyped feature of the reports of this Association, and the reason for such a condition is evident from the nature of the discussion which chiefly occupied the meeting. We quote the following from the report in the Messenger (April 30), as being a rather important document of New Church history:

     "The subject of the day was 'Education in the light of the New Church.' Such was the title of the General Pastor's address in the morning, and in the afternoon almost two hours of discussion were given to it. Concretely, the issue under discussion was. 'Shall we have New Church Schools" and the balance of opinions expressed was negative.

     "The General Pastor, in his address, showed by an exhaustive historic review the Church's experience with the problem.

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It had agitated the Massachusetts Association in the first years of its existence, 1836-1839, and had thence been carried into Convention. The outcome had been recommendations and plans for the establishment of New Church schools, but they had never been carried out. In 1856 the final verdict was given by a paper, read at Convention, which declared that it was outside the province of the Church to engage in secular education. By this verdict the Church as a whole had abided for the last fifty years, and it was right that it should further abide by it. For the purpose of the Church was spiritual and not secular instruction. This was not meant to do away with existing New Church schools, for there was a difference between schools maintained by the New Church and schools kept by New Churchmen. Schools like the existing had their use for such children as did not have the advantage of New Church worship at home, or who had no home, or whose home-life was not as it should be.

     "The discussion was opened by Dr. J. T. Prince, Mr. Walter A. Robinson and Mr. Asa Goddard, as being men engaged in the actual work of education. There were quite a number of other speakers, making the discussion both animated and interesting. There was general agreement with the position of the address that the Church as such should not engage in secular education. On the other hand, the feeling was as general that something should be done to keep the young people in the Church. It was recognized that colleges do indeed frequently make its students indifferent to things religious, and while the high character of public school teachers and their effort to develop the moral character of their pupils was acknowledged, it was pointed out that they largely lacked the necessary knowledge of the true purposes of life.

     "What it was that was wanted did not appear clearly. Some suggested doctrinal instruction for the children on Saturdays and during vacations, others thought conscientious home-instruction sufficient, others again wanted New Church schools, if they avoided a sectarian narrowness. Mr. Asa Goddard said that nobody knows what is expected of New Church schools. When we know what we want of them there will be teachers and pupils and money enough. The Rev. Mr. Hite thought that the issue between ecclesiastical and secular schools was not the real issue. Parents and Sunday School teachers cannot give the needed instruction, because they themselves are not properly instructed. What they needed was first of all a New Church university. For the elevation of the New-Church family life would be accomplished only by an educational influence from above downward.

     "The listener carried away the impression that he had listened to a notable expression of opinion, but that the problem had not been settled, rather that a big subject had just been opened up. E. F. G."

     It seems to us that the state of doubtfulness (to use a mild term), in regard to New Church schools, arises from a state of doubtfulness in regard to the New Church. Where the Divine authority of the Heavenly Doctrines is not only doubted, but even denied; where the organized body of the New Church is looked upon as essentially a sect temporarily in advance of the other sects which are rapidly catching up to it; where the good opinion of the Old Church is constantly courted, and sharp lines of demarcation are being sedulously avoided, how, in such a sphere, can there possibly be any recognition of distinctive New Church education? It is, indeed, of Divine Providence, that it is not recognized, lest there be an external without an internal, and lest, by the intermingling of the old and the new, the young of the Church should be brought up in that profane state which is "neither hot nor cold."

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     At an informal meeting of the "older young men" connected with the Church in New England, resolutions were passed to the effect that "the young men ought to be" represented on the "important committees" of the Convention, and that "a national young laymen's council should be formed" to post themselves on the business to be brought up before the Convention," in order to find out "in what ways new life can be put into the Church." Quite a peculiar situation, this, indicating an absence of many necessary things both among the young men and in the Convention itself.

     The Church in New England, having rejected New Church education, is becoming rich in interesting ruins, the tombstones of defunct societies. Thus, within a year, we witness the exit of three different societies. At Springfield the chapel and church-lot have been sold, and the proceeds handed over, in trust, to the Massachusetts New Church Union. The few remaining members at Warwick have joined the society in Providence, R. I., and the property of the late Pawtucket society has been transferred unconditionally to the Providence society. But in spite of these moribund symptoms our New England brethren persist in the policy of 1856, cutting off from the Church its natural and most immediate source of increase.

     At a recent meeting of the Woman's Association of the society in Brooklyn, the Rev. Adolph Roeder, in addressing the ladies, emphasized the necessity of a new literature to meet the demands of those who are "inquiring on new lines of thought." "We have no literature to meet the questions of the present day and not many things to give to our own children when they drift out of the New Church, as they are constantly doing." More than "literature" will be needed to stop this drifting.

     The chapel of the North Side parish of the Chicago Society (at Lincoln Park) has been sold to a Baptist congregation. The erection of a new chapel is contemplated, to be situated more than, two miles north of the former location.

     CANADA. For the first time in the history of the New Church we hear of services conducted in the Icelandic language. Mr. Ari Egilson, of Brandon, Manitoba, translates English New Church sermons into Icelandic, and reads them to a gathering of his own family and visiting friends (the attendance numbering about twenty persons). There are several large Icelandic colonies in the Northwest, and it would be well for the Church to provide some literature for them in the fine old "Norrona" tongue, which is the mother of the Swedish, Danish, and English languages. Thus far, only the Divine Love and Wisdom and the New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Doctrine have been translated into Icelandic.

     GREAT BRITAIN. The N. of England Missionary Society has recently urged the advisability and wisdom of "lay preachers" submitting themselves to a theological test prior to their names appearing upon the printed plan of missionary arrangements. Thus far a single candidate has presented himself, a Mr. Harold Clarkson, who is a lay preacher of two years standing. The Church in England boasts of a large number of lay preachers who preside over the ministerial affairs of the smaller Societies, act as missionaries, and generally perform the functions of ministers, and the Church has had little if anything to say as to their theological capabilities or training. These preachers have formed themselves into a "Lay Preachers' Association." The annual meeting of this Association was held in Manchester on April 12, when Mr. J. Dakeyne, of Rolton, read a paper on "The uses and advantages of a Lay Preachers' Association." The existence of such an Association indicates that the Church in England regards lay preaching as a separate and desirable institution, having its own distinct place in the Order of the Church, and not merely as a temporary extension of the work of the ministry rendered necessary by external considerations.

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     The Scottish N. C. Evidence Society has commenced the publication of a small bi-monthly, Friends in Council, which will be distributed free to isolated receivers. It is hoped to develop it into a regular monthly magazine for the New Church in Scotland.

     The Sunday School Union has recently acquired a set of lantern slides illustrative of the life and works of Swedenborg. Among them are several diagrams illustrating the Principia. The pictures of Swedish scenery and the portraits of Swedenborg are said to be very fine. At a meeting of the Wigan District Sunday School Union, held at Bolton, April 26, Mr. James Caldwell, a former correspondent of the Life, read a paper on "The Doctrines in the Sunday School." He emphasized the necessity of teaching the Writings if the children are to be prepared for the Church and Heaven, quoting "very freely from the Doctrines to show that the period of youth was the time to impart doctrine, and that no one was justified in saying that doctrine was 'too dry for the young.'"

     It is announced that, in spite of efforts to help it, the Society at Alloa "has practically gone out of existence." This is one of the oldest Societies in Great Britain, the doctrines having been introduced in Alloa in 1798.

     On April 1 the Rev. Peter Ramage was recognized as the first pastor of the Society in Barnsley, to which he had been preaching for the three preceding months. The Society owns a Church building which was "passed over" to it by the Baptists some two years ago.

     The Society in Moseley (Birmingham) which for many years has been meeting in a public hall, has found it necessary, owing to its growing needs, to build a church. There is no resident minister in this place, and weekly services are not held, but it is proposed to institute them in the near future. At a recent bazaar for the benefit of the building fund. Councillor Tonks, in a speech introducing the deputy Lord Mayor of Birmingham, who presided, after referring to the "charity" evidenced by the presence in the Chair of "one not of their own way of thinking," said that "the views they held did not force them to think that everyone else was going in the wrong direction." "Swedenborg did not know whether his views would be accepted by the world or not" and "had no idea of any specific denomination." The New Church arose because "those who believed Swedenborg's views felt they could do better in union," But "they did not seek to take people away from the Christian fellowship in which they might be:" they sought only those who "were getting adrift." Rather curious talk for a member of a Body like the Conference which spends so much time and money on Missionary work. The deputy Lord Mayor responded in a humorous speech.

     At a meeting held to recognize the new pastor of the Brightlingsea Society (Rev. L. A. Slight), addresses of welcome were made by ministers of the local Congregational and Wesleyan Churches. On the occasion of a visit to Brightlingiea some weeks previously, Mr. Slight had attended the annual Missionary meeting, of the Wesleyan Church, and being invited to speak, "expressed his pleasure at the reception accorded him by his Wesleyan brethren. If there were anything he could do for the welfare of their Church he should be glad to do it. It was for them to say what he could do, he would do it if he could." For a New Church minister to help the Wesleyan Church is had enough, but to do it according to Wesleyan direction,-!

     At the reception held in Rhodes a few days later, Mr. Stones had a good opportunity of inaugurating his work "side by side with the ministers around." The meeting was presided over by Rev. W. Westall (who has recently been elected President of the "Free Church Committee" in the district in which he resides), supported by the President of Conference and other New Church ministers, and was attended by local ministers of the Anglican, Methodist and Wesleyan Church, one of whom "expressed his satisfaction with the movement," while the Chairman spoke of his "gratification at such a gathering, not only from their own ministry, but also from neighboring Churches, which showed kindly co-operation and good fellowship."

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With all this official friendliness with the ministers of a false religion how is the New Church to be, what it is so often called, "essentially a missionary Church," that is, a Church militant? Is it to carry war into the enemy's country by making common cause with the enemy? The Jews did not enter Canaan, nor the Christians fight against heathendom by any such fraternization. It seems more and more evident that the Church in England is taking the position of a sect among the other sects.

     The Rev. J. J. Woodford is reported as saying at a meeting of the York Society, that "Swedenborg had expressed his discouragement to an angel that only four copies of the Arcana had been sold in ten years. The angel replied that the Lord would have made the revelation if only one person had been prepared to receive it." The passage referred to is, we suppose, S. D., 4422, but there Swedenborg records having heard that only four copies had been sold in two months, not ten years; and the angel's reply was that it is proper that none should read except those who were in faith, and that the Lord forces no one. It was then shown how few in the Christian world are in faith.

     SWEDEN. The erection of a New Church temple in Stockholm, with a seating capacity for five hundred persons, is now being actively considered by the society of which the Rev. C. J. N. Manby is the hunter, and appeals are made for contributions for this purpose. The society already owns a beautifully situated lot by the "Tegner" park in the northern part of the city. About $30,000 are yet needed in order to erect the temple, which will be the first in the country of Swedenborg's birth. Contributions are received by Captain C. Magnell, Kommendorsgatan 5, Stockholm.

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STANDARD OF AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH 1902

STANDARD OF AUTHORITY IN THE NEW CHURCH       Rev. W. H. BENADE       1902

     
NEW CHURCH LIFE.

Vol. XXII.          JULY, 1902.           No. 7.
(Reprinted from the Journal of the American Council of New Church Ministers for 1873.)

     "Quod inscriptum libris, ADVENTUS DOMINI, in mundo spirituali; illud EX MANDATO duobus exemplaribus in Hollandia item inscripsi."--SWEDENBORG: Historia Eccleslastica.

     IN the Writings for the New Church we are taught as follows: "To the intent that heaven may subsist, and the human race: from conjunction with it, the Word was provided by the Lord, in which is Divine Truth for angels and for men. For such is the Word in its spiritual and celestial sense, that therein is angelic wisdom itself, in so supereminent a degree, that man can scarce form any conception as to the quality of its eminence, although in the letter it appears very simple and rude. Hence it is evident that heaven is in its wisdom from the Word, when it is read by man, and at the same time man is in conjunction with heaven. For this end such a Word was given to man." (A. C., 10452.)

     And this is to say: that the Lord, in His infinitely merciful love for His human creatures, always keeps among them and within their reach, Divine Truth, in a form adapted and accommodated to their capacities of reception; and "profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works."

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     By the Divine Truth He forms and establishes His kingdom, which in the spiritual world is Heaven, and in the natural world the Church, and which is within man, being a state of good and truth, or of love to and faith in the Lord, from the Lord. By the Divine Truth, Heaven and the Church are not only formed and established, but also subsist; and by conjunction with Heaven, through the Divine Truth in the Church on earth, the human race subsists. The Church is the medium of conjoining man on earth with the heavens, because the Word is in it, and it exists by the Word or the Divine Truth. Were the Divine Truth to be withdrawn, the Church, and with it the human race on earth, would inevitably perish. The reason of this is obvious. The Divine Truth of the Word is the divine and eternal, and, therefore, the only genuine standard of truth and good for angels and for men, from which alone can be derived and introduced into human life those principles of right, honest, just, virtuous, and holy action and conduct which absolutely condition the existence of human society. Should these be lost, or removed by any means, all rational thought, and finally all thought, would disappear from among men, in consequence of which they would lose every good of the will and every truth of the understanding, and thus the human principle itself; in the absence of which they would only consociate for purposes of mutual destruction, seeing that the merely natural man is nothing but a form of self-love and love of the world, and these are essentially hatred of the Lord and of the neighbor. And, moreover, the Word, or the Divine Truth, is the Lord and His Providence in heaven and on earth, and if they be withdrawn all life must cease, and the human race must perish.

     Now, "A man can take nothing, except if it be given from heaven," because he has not life in himself, but is a mere recipient of life. His faculties of will and understanding are receptacles for the reception of good and truth, and intended to be in-formed by the good and truth which flow in from the Lord out of heaven; and just in the degree in which he is preserved, or remains in this relation established by creation, and therefore inherent in the very nature of his being, and only in that degree, is he a truly human being, in the image and after the likeness of the Divine Being. Humanity is thus absolutely conditioned upon the in-formation of the will by good from the Lord, and upon the instruction of the understanding by truth from the Lord.

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Apart from this condition there is no humanity, neither in the earths, nor in the heavens. For, "Heaven in general, as a Gorand-man, and in particular, as angels, who are men, is made by the Divine Proceeding from the Lord, which is the good of love, and the truth of faith, and so far as they receive what is good and true from the Lord, the angels are angels, and in the same proportion they are heaven." (H. H., 7.) What is said of Heaven, is equally true of the Church, for the Church is Heaven on earth; and of men on earth, of whom the Church is to be composed. And since these propositions are divinely true, their converse has a like force of Divine Truth; and men are not men, not the Church, not angels, not Heaven, in proportion as they do not receive what is good and true from the Lord, or in the degree in which their wills are not in-formed by good from the Lord, and their understandings instructed by truth from the Lord. But, "The Divine Proceeding from the Lord is called in heaven Divine Truth" (H. H., 13), and in the Word, it is called "The Father who is in the heavens;" because "the Divine Himself is above the heavens, but the Divine in the heavens is the good which is in the truth which proceeds from the Divine, as the heat of the sun is in the light which proceeds therefrom. (A. C., 8328.) And, further, the Divine Truth which is "the Father in the heavens," is the Divine Human of the Lord, which existed from eternity; and this also is "the Word, from which alone anything of doctrine can proceed to angels and to men, since what proceeds from the Divine itself is incomprehensible to any and every form of finite mind." (A. C., 6280.) Hence it is, that when the Lord came into the world, He came as "the Word made flesh," and thus was Immanuel. God Himself, with us; and when He glorified His human, He fulfilled or filled the Word or Divine Truth full of the Divine life, even as to every jot and tittle of its ultimate natural sense, thereby making Himself perpetually Immanuel. God with us, which is God-man. Wherefore, as in the heavens, and to the heavens, the Lord is, and appears, a man so in the Church, and to the Church, He is, and appears, a man. And this His being and appearance in the heavens and in the Church is the Word, or Divine Truth from Divine Good. Hence is the Word, even in its very literal sense, in the human form, treating of the Lord everywhere as a Man, existing and operating as a Man; and in its spiritual sense now opened to our understandings, revealing Him transfigured on the mount of His infinite love as the Divine Man, "with his face shining as the sun, and his raiment white as the light.

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The Word, therefore, or the Divine Truth in the heavens and in the Church and thus in the world; or the one only Divine standard of all true thought and good living, is the Lord Himself in his Divine Human. What is revealed in the Word, is the Lord in His Divine Human; what is revealed by the Word made flesh and fulfilled, is the Lord in His Divine Human; what is revealed from or out of the Word, in doctrine drawn therefrom, is the Lord in His Divine Human. All revelation is the coming of the Lord in His Divine Human, and every such coming is an accommodation of Himself, of His Truth and His Good, to the states and conditions, to the needs and wants, of His human creatures. Every revelation, therefore, as a coming of the Lord, is a purely Divine work, the work of the infinite Divine Human; whether it be effected by the medium of angels, as in the most ancient times; or by the medium of a written Word, as in the ancient and later Jewish times; or by the medium of the human assumed by the Lord in time, as at the end of the Jewish and the beginning of the Christian age; or by "the instrumentality of a man before whom He has manifested Himself in person, and whom He has filled with His Spirit, to teach from Him the doctrines of the New Church by means of the Word." (T. C. R., 779.)

     Hence are we taught concerning this last revelation, that "the second coming of the Lord is not a coming in person, but in the Word, which is from Him, and is Himself." But how is this second coming of the Lord in the Word effected? Not by the giving of the Word in the letter, for this had been done long ages before. Not by the fulfillment of the Word, for this had been accomplished centuries before. Not by the provision of a new Word in a literal form, for this was impossible, seeing that the Lord had filled every jot and tittle of the Word full of a Divine life, and so had made it Divine Truth itself in last, as it was in first principles. Not thus was His second coming effected, but by the opening of the Word as given and fulfilled by Himself; by a revelation of its spirit and life to the understandings of men; by the unfolding of its spiritual sense, in which resides the divinity of the Word, that Divine Human of the Lord which makes Heaven and the Church, and which is "the true light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world."

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And this opening, this revelation, this unfolding, is given in the doctrines of the New Church, which are the spiritual sense of the Word, wherein the Lord comes and manifests Himself to men in the infinite divinity of His Human, as the Divine Truth from the Divine Good. (T. C. R., 217-222, 225-242; A. C., 2859, 2531, 2762, 3712, 9025, 9409, 9430; S. S., 25, 26., etc.) Now if the Word is what it means; in other words, if the Word is its own sense, the living Divine Truth of the Lord, enveloped and embodied in a series of senses from first to last, then is it clear that the doctrines of the New Church, as that spiritual sense of the Word, wherein its divinity resides, are the Divine Word in its spirit and life, as now given to the New Church, and thus that they are "the second coming of the Lord Himself, in the Word, which is from Him, and is Himself." And herein, too, is the fulfillment of His own promise to come again in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory, by which is signified the manifestation of Himself in the Word, effected by the opening and revealing of its internal or spiritual sense, for in this sense is the Divine Truth itself, such as it is in the heavens, and the Divine Truth in heaven is the Lord Himself there. For this reason is it said in A. C., 5321: "The Lord is doctrine itself, for the all of doctrine proceeds from Him, and the all of doctrine treats of Him; for the all of doctrine treats of the good of love and the truth of faith, which things are from the Lord, wherefore the Lord is not only in them, but is also both the one and the other; and hence is it evident that the doctrine which treats of good and truth treats of the Lord alone, and that it proceeds from His Divine Human;...that is, by the Word, which in the supreme sense is the Divine Truth from the Lord's Divine Human, . . . and this angels (and men who are instructed) can comprehend, for it treats of God as of a Divine man, concerning whom some idea may be formed from the human; and the idea which is formed concerning the human is accepted, of whatsoever kind it is, if so be it flows from the good of innocence, and he in the good of charity."

     If, now, we regard all revelation as a coming of the Lord to man, and consider it in the light of this doctrine, we shall see that in such revelation, or coming, He always adapts His Divine Truth to the conditions of humanity, and especially to the conditions of information and instruction in which humanity is, by adjoining to it an external human form, derived from the humanity which is in existence in the world at the time of such revelation or coming.

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By this adjunction to His Divine Truth, or, if you please, by this clothing of Himself in a garb taken from finite humanity, He so far accommodates His Truth, which is Himself, to the states of men, as to bring about a mutual contact, both of mind and of sense. When He communicated Truth, which is Himself, by the angels to the men of the Most Ancient Church; when He taught the men of the Ancient Church by a written Word; when Moses and the Prophets gave the Law and spake to Israel; when the Human was assumed, and spoke and acted in the world; it was the Lord who came, and who communicated, one who taught; who gave the Law, and spake, and who took upon Himself a human form and existence. It was the Lord Himself who adjoined to Himself these varying human forms, and who used them as His means or agencies in coming down to man, where man was at the time when He thus sought him. He communicated by the angels He taught by the written Word; He commanded by Moses and by the Prophets; and He was in the fullness of His Godhead bodily present to the very senses of men, in the Word made flesh. From human conditions of mind and body, He took what He required for His Divine end and purpose, and made it subservient as the last, or ultimate instrumentality, to the doing of the work of His Divine Humanity. His end was to conjoin man with Himself, by truth, so that He might form and develop his human principle into the image and after the likeness of His Divine Human principle, and that thus he might He a man before Him. This work of adjoining to Himself human things, in order by them to conjoin with Himself human beings, was the Lord's, and the Lord's alone. "There was none to help." And now, when "He comes again by the instrumentality of a man," as He came before by human instrumentalities, and never otherwise, shall the Lord be hidden from our eyes by this instrumentality? If this is human, and only human, does this fact make the work performed by it any less Divine than those other works of a like character, which were effected by like agencies in times past?

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These, too, were human, and only human. Is the Doer of this work any less the Lord Himself, in this day of His second and final coming, than was the Doer of the work of His first coming in the flesh, and of all the preceding works of revelation? Whose is the gold, whose the fabric, and whose the precious, glowing gems of the crown that encircles the brow of the Bride, adorned for her husband, now coming down from God out of heaven? Are they man's, or are they God's? or, are they part man's and Part God's? Is the supreme sovereignty of the Lord's Truth, in this day of His second advent, a divided sovereignty? If it be, how can His kingdom stand? Nay, it must be affirmed that His kingdom does not stand in a mind divided against itself, by acknowledging its belief in the second advent of the Lord, and yet denying that the Doctrines of the New Church revealed out of the Word are Divine, altogether Divine, and nothing but Divine. The Psalmist says: "For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light." Admitting that all light comes from the "fountain of life," one who is in this state, nevertheless, does not seek instruction in Divine Truth from Divine Truth, but from what to him is only a human interpretation of Divine Truth. As to the man of the old and desolated Church the Lord is a mere man, or at best, part God and part man, so to him the Lord in His second advent in the Revelation of the true sense of the Word, which is the Doctrine of the New Church, is only human, or at least, partly human and partly Divine. "The prophet is not accepted it his own country." The Lord "as to the Divine Truth, thus as to the doctrine of the Church," is not received and acknowledged in the form in which He comes, in the Church to which He comes. And because this doubtful reception, or but partial acknowledgment of Him, limits the operations of His omnipotence, therefore "He does not many mighty works there, because of their unbelief." "For faith makes the Lord present in man according to the reality of perception concerning Him; everything else man does not acknowledge, and thereby he rejects; for to the intent that the Lord may operate anything by faith to man, the presence of the Lord's Divine must be in man, and not out of him." (A. E., 815) Man himself, in this case, raises up a barrier to these operations in his life, by reasonings and deductions based upon the science of his sensual mind, which, as it is formed by mere appearances, cannot otherwise than fill his thought with fallacies and falsities.

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By means of these he is confirmed in a negative principle, and dominated by the conceit that nothing is to be received as true which cannot be demonstrated by the proofs and evidences demanded by that principle. Like the Pharisees of old, he asks for a "sign,"-that is, for his own "sign,"--and refuses to believe if any other be given. And yet no other "sign" can be given to this generation but "the sign of the Prophet Jonah." The very self-evidencing reason of the Divinity of the Doctrines of the New Church is in the manifestation of the glorification of the Lord's Human, and in the setting forth of the regeneration of man, or in the very work and in the very effect of the Word, or the Divine Truth of the Lord. In opposition to this "sign," the negative principle sets up in the mind controlled by it a sign or standard of truth and of judgment, which in the very nature of the case is human, and only human; and of which, if we will consider the fact that the human understanding is first formed by the senses, we may affirm that it is merely sensual and external. And one who follows this standard cannot do otherwise than assume the truth of what he knows, or thinks that he knows; and assuming this he reasons from external to internal, from sensual to rational and spiritual things, and does not "see light in the Lord's light," but only in the lumen of his natural understanding, which is mere darkness.

     I have said that he cannot do otherwise than assume the truth of what he knows, or thinks that he knows, because this lies in the nature of all human thought, which always rests upon some idea, or notion, as the base of it operation. If this be not taken, as it is given from heaven, then is it assumed, as it enters from the world. This is true, whether the mind be under the rule of an affirmative or of a negative principle. In the former case, the beginning of thought and judgment is in that which is received from the Giver of life and light; but in the latter it is in what the mind makes for itself out of the things of life and light. If, then, as before said from the teachings of the Church, the Lord in His merciful providence always accommodates Himself to the conditions of the humanity which He has created, in all that He does and gives, and if His end in doing and giving is the information of the will by good, and the instruction of the understanding by truth, which is effected by means of the Church in which is the Word or Divine Truth, it is clear that the only true beginning of thought with man for the formation of a genuine, living standard of truth, is established by an "acceptance of the Prophet in his own country," or in other words, by an acknowledgment of the Lord as to the Divine Truth, thus as to the Doctrine of the Church.

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     Starting in this affirmation of the divinity of the doctrine in which the Lord appears in His own Divine light, man begins his thought, his reasoning, his judgment on all things of spiritual and natural life, at the very opposite pole to that which he occupies when, under the influence of a negative principle, he undertakes to determine all things from a base formed only by science and sense. And what is true of these extremes in the mental states of men holds good equally in respect to all the states, which are intermediate, and partake more or less of the duality of the one or the other of them. Just in proportion as there is in them a rational affirmation of the Divine and infallible authority of the Doctrines of the New Church, is "the prophet accepted in his own country," and the Lord is seen and acknowledged in His second advent in the world. And, just in the degree in which they are formed by a negation of the Divine and infallible authority of the Doctrines of the New Church, is "the prophet rejected in his own country," is the Lord not seen and acknowledged in His second advent in the world. We have, at this day, either the Lord's standard of Divine Truth, set up by His own hand, unto which shall gather, and around which shall be ranged in order the tribes of Israel; or we have one standard, and many standards, set up by the hands of men, to which men may gather or not, and under which "every man may do whatsoever is right in his own eyes." He, who in his heart and with his understanding accepts the former, can see, and will see, that the Lord has at this time of His second coming as little deviated from the mode, as He has changed the end, of His providence, in always preserving a church on earth for the salvation of the human race. Even as, in all past time, the Word was given, or Revelation was made, by human instrumentalities, and the Church was established in forms perfectly adapted to the states and conditions of mankind, to which and for which the Lord came; so also in these latter days, when neither the Word in the letter, nor the natural sense of the Word and the doctrine drawn therefrom by the Lord Himself when in the Human and by those whom He had sent to preach the Gospel, could any longer save the race from the total destruction which impended, because all truth had been perverted, and all good adulterated, in these latter days, since He could not come again in person, He came by the instrumentality of a man.

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And how? In perfect accordance with His own Divine Word: "In the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory;?" by unfolding his Word of Divine Truth as to its spiritual sense, in which is His glory, and the power of His Spirit. And to this Spirit of His Truth He adjoined; or, this spiritual presence, in this His coming, He clothed in a human form of rational proposition and scientific illustration, taken from the rational understanding and scientific mind of the man, Emanuel Swedenborg. By this means He perfectly adapted His Truth to the existing conditions of human thought and life, and thus to human states of reception. And shall we now say that because the Lord has come, and given His Truth in this human form and mode of thinking, reasoning, and judging, that His infinite condescension in so doing testifies against the Divinity of this His Human? Shall the poverty and lowliness of His garb hide from us the infinite majesty of His face? and will we linger in the deep shadows of the valley, and not ascend the mountain-sides to behold Him transfigured before us? He has always come down to men in human form and mode; and if so be that in His second and last coming, which is to the understandings of men, this form and mode be the only one truly adapted to these understandings, shall we say of Him in this manifestation of the spiritual truth of his Word, that He is no more than the form which He has assumed? Will we affirm, when He addresses our reason through the rational understanding of a man whom "He has filled with His Spirit;" and when He employs this man's science to illustrate His teaching, that this teaching is not Divine, because our reason may not be convinced, and because that science may not accord with our science? Surely it was just as possible for the Lord to take possession of the rational mind of Swedenborg, as it was for Him to take possession of the sensual minds of Moses and the Prophets. The fact that Swedenborg understood what "he was taught by the Lord alone," and what he was "commanded" to write, and publish to the world, could not impair or vitiate the Lord's work in giving to men the revelation of the internal sense of the Word, any more than their ignorance of what they wrote could impair or vitiate the literal Word, as given through Moses and the Prophets.

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It is simply preposterous to suppose that the Lord would teach Swedenborg and command him to write "the essential and real truth" of the Word, "for the great concern of all Christians' salvation and happiness," and then leave him to his own liability to error, in obeying the Divine command. It was not Swedenborg alone who was to be taught, but the whole human race in all coming time. It was not Swedenborg who then came into the world, but the Lord, by the "special illumination" granted to him, and by "the consequent revelation" made by his instrumentality. That "he has not given any explication of his own," he repeatedly affirms; that "he was commanded to declare what he had seen in the other world," he expressly states; and how the Lord held in his own hands this instrument of "the immediate revelation which exists at this day, and which is meant by His second coming," is plainly set forth in this passage: "It was shown me by experience, during the space of an hour, how all the thoughts are ruled by the Lord; there was an influx like a most gentle and imperceptible stream, the vein of which does not appear, but still leads and draws; that which flowed in from the Lord, thus led all the series of my thoughts into consequences; and although gently, still powerfully, insomuch that I could not in any wise wander into other thoughts, which was even allowed me to attempt, but it was to no purpose." (A. C., 6474)

     Can we not see, then, that to deny the Divine authority of the Doctrines of the New Church, is to reject "the Prophet in his own country;" and thus to repeat the state of the consummated Church, in which, "because the Lord was born as a man, He was with difficulty acknowledged from the heart to be God, inasmuch as His Human was made like that of themselves, although they knew that His Father was Jehovah, and not a man?" (A. C., 9198.) Do we not also know that the Lord alone is Truth, and that Truth proceeds and is given from His Divine Love to the angels and men; and that there is no real Truth in us, and with us, which we do not connect with and derive from Him; which does not speak to us with His voice, and command us by His authority? How is it that men cannot even of themselves "discern" this most wondrous sign of these times? How is it that they are not convinced by their common sense, and held rationally bound to these plain and simple truths, that a Church, which is the Lord's kingdom on earth, can only be formed by the Lord Himself; and that if it is "doctrine which forms a Church," this doctrine of a true Church must be the Lord's, and, therefore, Divine and infallible?

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That if this doctrine affirms of itself that it is the spiritual sense of the Word, in the revelation of which the Lord makes His second advent in the world, it affirms that it is the Lord Himself in His coming, and, therefore, is Divine and infallible? That if "the divinity of the Word resides in its spiritual sense" (S. S., 18, 19), and if "the spiritual sense of the Word is the doctrine of the New Church" (S. S., 25, 79), this doctrine must be the divine and infallible Word of the Lord, given to the New Church to establish it as the very crown of all churches?

     If the Doctrine of the New Church be not to us an infallible standard of Truth, where, in the great human needs of this our day, shall we find such an one' In the Word of the Sacred Scripture? "The letter killeth," but "the Spirit which maketh alive" we do not know, and cannot receive without the doctrine which makes it known. Will we seek it in our senses? In our fallacious science? In our fallible reason? Do our senses, our science; our reason make truth, or take truth' And if they only take truth, is that which they take true because they take it, or because it comes forth from the Lord, who is truth, and descends from Him out of heaven? Is Truth not truth, whether we accept it or not, simply because it is truth, and the eternal thought of the Divine Mind?

     And, whence and how do we know that the Word of the Sacred Scriptures is the Divine Truth itself? Do we "take" this knowledge from our own minds, from their thinking, reasoning, and concluding? or do we receive it from the Lord's doctrine, in which He witnesses unto His Scripture that it was given by Him, and treats of Him' Whence and how do we know that the Word has a spiritual sense in the literal sense? Whence and how do we learn what this spiritual sense is? and who has put into our hands the key of the science of correspondences, whereby to unlock the precious casket that holds the Divine treasures of wisdom? Whence and how do we obtain true information concerning the Lord, His Divine Life and Operation; concerning man, his life and existence; concerning regeneration and the life after death?

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     Do not the Doctrines of the Church, in which these things are opened to our understandings, bring the Lord down to us? and is not this His second advent in the world? And when men say, as some do say, that these doctrines are imperfect and incomplete, that they contain errors and mistakes, inconsistencies and contradictions, what is this but saying that the Lord's second coming into the world is imperfect and incomplete, that in making it He has committed errors and mistakes, and that He is inconsistent with Himself, and contradicts Himself? In assuming this position, they but repeat and intensify that form of Old Church infidelity so rife in this day of its consummation, which we find thus stated by one of its ablest advocates: "The Bible is not the mechanical work of the Holy Spirit . . . it is the record of what holy men thought and said as they were moved by the Holy Ghost; which is not a mere dictation, but an influence operating not independently, but through the agency of human thoughts and feelings, and, of course, allying itself often with what is temporary, partial, and even mistaken; just as the pure evening breeze from the sea, bringing health far into the interior to the parched and wilted invalid, melted by the summer heats, brings nevertheless odors of the land over which it passes, and, perhaps, not always fragrant odors mixed with its saline breath." (Dr. Bellows.)

     This is the real thought, modified possibly by individual forms of mind, of the men of the Church which has passed away, concerning the Word of the Sacred Scriptures or the Divine Revelation of Truth and Good. And this, too, whatever modifications it may assume in individual minds, is essentially the thought of those of the New Church who deny that the Doctrines revealed to this Church are a Divine and infallible standard of Truth; and especially of those who affirm that the truths taught in those Doctrines are Swedenborg's truths. And when they thus interpose the instrumentality, by which Divine Truth is given, between that Truth and their understandings, how is it possible that they can truly see and acknowledge the Lord in His second advent in the world? How is it possible that they can see and acknowledge the desolation and consummation of the old or former Church, which is the very condition of the second advent? How is it possible that they can see and acknowledge the distinctive character of the New Church as that final Dispensation of Good and Truth from the Lord out of Heaven, by which "all things are made new?"

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     Since the Lord could not come again in person, and since, according to His promise, He has to come again in the Word, not as to the letter, but as to the spirit of the letter, His advent could not otherwise have been effected than by His inspiring or inspiriting, in the fullest sense of that term, the mind of the human instrument chosen for that purpose. And still less could it have been effected without His giving to this instrument, and through this instrument to men, by such inspiration, His own Truth, pure and undefiled, without one particle of admixture of what is "temporary, partial, and even mistaken," introduced from "the human thoughts and feelings" of His agent in the accomplishment of His work. That this was so, Swedenborg himself affirms in his letter to the King of Sweden, dated Stockholm, May 10, 1770, when he says: "If any doubt still remain, I am ready to testify, with the most solemn oath that can be offered in this matter, that I have said nothing but essential and real truth, without any mixture of deception." And when he adds: "This knowledge is given me from our Saviour, not for any particular merit of mine, but for the great concern of all Christians' salvation and happiness; and as such, how can any one venture to assert it is false;" and declares that the Lord called him to his holy office, sent him to do what he did, commanded him to write "the doctrine which is contained in his writings," and to "declare what he had seen in the other world;" and when he himself cites this was a proof that he did not reveal his own thoughts, but that they came from above,"--is it not as clear as the light of the noonday sun that the testimony as to the fact of the Lord's second advent is identical with the testimony as to the Truth, the revelation of which constitutes His second advent? To discredit the witness to the fact, is to discredit the witness to the Truth. To subject the Truth to the natural infirmities of the human medium of its dispensation to men, is to vitiate its quality and destroy its divinity. And in the mind in which the divinity of the Truth, revealed by the instrumentality of Swedenborg is thus destroyed, the Lord is not really seen and acknowledged in His second advent in the world.

     To impugn in any wise the divinity and infallibility of the Heavenly Doctrine of the New Church, is not only a virtual attempt to destroy it as a standard of truth, but it is also, and more, an effort of evil spirits operating on men, to lead them to a rejection of the Lord's work, and thereby to a rejection of the Lord Himself, who is one with His work.

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For Revelation, whensoever made, and through whomsoever made, is as much a purely Divine work as is creation, as is redemption. To take from Revelation in a human mind even the least part of its perfect Divinity, is to deprive that mind by so much of the Divine Truth by which alone it can be consociated with the heavens, and by which it may be informed as to good, and instructed as to truth, and so conjoined with the Lord. And this is to contravene the very Divine end of infinite love, in the giving of the Word, and in the establishment of the Church on earth by the Word.

     And if now you ask, What bearing has all this upon the condition of the New Church, in so far as it has taken form in the world? my reply is: That now and here, as in the day when the Lord was in the flesh on earth, there are some who say that He "is John the Baptist; some Elias; and others Jeremias, or one of the prophets." Not all answer His question, "But whom say ye that I am?" in the sense of the memorable words uttered by Simon Peter: "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." Various degrees of truth, but all more or less human and finite, are ascribed to the Doctrines of the New Church. Their truth is not received of all men as the Divine Truth itself, which is the spirit and life of the Word. The history of the Church among men, like the history of the world, repeats itself. As similar states of life have existed at different periods, to produce the consummation of the Church, so also have similar states of greater or less receptivity existed at the different periods in which the Lord has come to establish His Church anew. Now, as before, there are those who believe from rational conviction that there is in the world a Revelation of Truth from the Lord, which is Divine altogether, which is "the Christ, the Son of the living God." In this Truth they see the Lord Himself, manifesting His Divine will and law out of the literal sense of the Word, and causing the human mind which receives Him at His coming to ascend with Him into the light of spiritual truth. To them this truth, as the internal sense of the Word, is that Divine teaching according to which and from which are to be formed and determined all states of the understanding and will; all the conditions of faith and charity; whatever relates to the internal and external of the Church, and thence to the internal and external of man's civil, social, domestic, and individual existence in the world.

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To them this Revelation is the voice of the Lord, setting forth that Divine Truth, which is the one, only standard of right and wrong, of good and evil.

     And now, as before, there are those who believe that Divine doctrine may be drawn from the Word by men, without such Revelation; that it is but the doctrine of a John, an Elias, a Jeremias, or one of the Prophets; that it may come through the states of mind and life developed in a man like themselves; that the things of order and government in the Church and in society, and in the individual, are matters of merely human judgment, and that they may be determined without reference to any revelation but such as the understanding of man derives from reading the literal Word. To them this Revelation now made is, in many instances, contradicted by human science, for which reason its plain teachings may be set aside; and where these teachings do not meet the requirements of tests set up by human judgments, they hold that they are not only to be rejected, but also that "they may not be admitted by any one." And thus do they set them aside as a Divine and infallible standard of truth; and respect and regard them only as Swedenborg's explanation of the truth, or as Swedenborg's views and opinions concerning the truth. Now, any one may see that such a division of mind on so vital and fundamental a point as the nature of the Revelations made to the Church at this day, if it become a fixed condition, must needs result, not in those varieties of faith as to doctrinals and worship, which will necessarily be formed by various perceptions and understandings of the same truths, but in actual differences and oppositions of faith and worship, arising from different and opposite conceptions and constructions of those truths themselves.

     The grand centre of unity in the New Church is the Lord Himself, as He now comes in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. If the members of the New Church do not unite in seeing and acknowledging Him in this manner of His coming,--that is, in the opening of the spiritual sense of the Word, which is the very doctrine by which the Church is to be formed,--then are they without a common centre of unity; and what is called the Church among them is "a kingdom divided against itself, which cannot stand;" a kingdom in name only, seeing that "every man" therein "doeth whatsoever is right in his own eyes," and not a kingdom in reality, firmly established and perpetually extending round about "the place which the Lord our God hath chosen to cause His name to dwell there; whither they shall bring all that He has commanded,--their burnt offerings, and their sacrifices, their tithes, and the heave-offerings of their hands, and all their choice vows which they vow unto the Lord; and where they shall rejoice before the Lord their God, they and their sons and their daughters, and their men-servants, and their maid-servants, and the Levite that is within their gates." (Deut. xii:9, 11, 12.)

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CONVENTION AND THE WRITINGS 1902

CONVENTION AND THE WRITINGS       Editor       1902

     THE meetings of the ministers and members of the General Convention, recently held in Philadelphia, were, in one respect, the most solemn and the most important of all meetings ever held in the history of the New Church. Though the members present evidently did not realize it, they formed an ecclesiastical court to sit in judgment upon One who had been brought before them for trial, and this One was none other than the Lord Himself in His Second Coming.

     Last year a Committee of the Ministers of the General Convention was appointed to consider the question "Whether the Lord wrote Swedenborg's theological books through Swedenborg, or whether Swedenborg wrote them of himself from the Lord, and whether or not the books are the Word." This year, the committee presented its report on the questions asked, and the verdict, which was adopted by the Council of Ministers with but two dissentient voices, and accepted by the General Convention, nemine contradicente, was that "in the common acceptation of the term, the Lord did not write Swedenborg's books, but Swedenborg wrote them as of himself from the Lord. In the common acceptation of the term, his writings are not the Word, but a new Revelation of Divine Truth from and relating to the Word," and this notwithstanding Swedenborg's explicit testimony that "the books were written by the Lord by means of me" (Eccl. Hist.), and that "the works are not my works, but the Lord's." (S. D. 6101.)

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     What was the purpose of the Report? What did the Council intend to effect by adopting it? Its avowed purpose was to settle the question of "Swedenborg's illustration and the character of the Writings," so that "all New Church men should come to an agreement on it." In other words, it was to present an expression of opinion and interpretation which should influence "all New Church men," a task which was as hopeless as it was lawless, for all New Church men will never bow down before human authority in matters of faith.

     It may hare seemed to the few who are affirmative towards the Writings that a great step in advance had been taken by the adoption of this Report, because thereby the Council and the Convention had been brought to a distinct acknowledgment that the Writings are a Divine Revelation. But such a nominal acknowledgment was no gain at all, in view of the fact that the Convention has nominally acknowledged this from its very beginning, for the very first article of the Constitution of the General Convention reads thus: "This body shall be called the General Convention of the New Jerusalem in the United States of America, and shall consist of all those who acknowledge the Doctrines of the New Jerusalem as revealed by the Lord from His Word in the writings of Emanuel Swedenborg." The Report itself admits, in fact, that on this point (as to the Writings being a new Divine Revelation), "there cannot be a difference of opinion among New Church men." But the real aim of the Report was to settle the question as to what kind of a Divine Revelation is given in the Writings, and this it settled--with a vengeance. The Writings were declared to be a Divine Revelation which is not the Word of the Lord, but the word of a mere man: a Divine Revelation which is not a Divine Revelation; a house divided against Itself, which cannot stand.

     "A HOUSE DIVIDED AGAINST ITSELF."

     The report portrays in a most striking manner the condition of a house that is divided against itself. What it acknowledges in one sentence, it denies in the next. What it gives with the one hand, it takes away with the other. It admits that the Writings are "a New Divine Revelation," and that "we must accept it as such or not at all." Nevertheless, this new Divine Revelation is "very far from being the Word of the Lord!"

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The truths revealed through Swedenborg "constitute a complete exposition of Divine Revelation." Nevertheless "the Writings contain but a small part of the Spiritual Sense." "They make the Word intelligible. They enable us to see the Lord in the Word and to receive Him in His Second Coming." Nevertheless, they "are Word the internal sense pure and continuous, but reveal only a few of the things that this sense contains." What Swedenborg reveals "is only as a drop of water," compared to the things which could not be revealed. In writing the Arcana Caelestia Swedenborg disclosed only "some of the secrets" contained in the Word of God, and in the Apocalypse Revealed only "certain" arcana are brought to light. What is the purpose of all this belittling of that Revelation which "excels all the Revelations that have been made since the creation of the world?" (Inv. 44.) Surely, the writers of the Report have looked at the Writings through the wrong end of a telescope, whence the final, the crowning, the most perfect of all Divine Revelations assumes such microscopic dimensions as to become next to invisible.

     What blindness! Here men are standing by the shore of an infinite ocean of Divine Truth, and they imagine that it is only some small pond, circumscribed by the human limitations of Swedenborg's own understanding, and to be measured by the little buckets of human comprehension. The Report in all this talk about "a small part" of the spiritual sense, betrays a lamentable absence of a spiritual conception of Truth and of what is Divine. To think of the Divine from the idea of quantity is to think naturally, nay, materially. Divinity is a quality, and that which is Divine "is the same in the greatest and in the leasts." (D. L. W. 77.) The Divine is One and Indivisible, and "parts" cannot be predicated of it. To claim that the Lord in His Second Coming has revealed but "a small part" or "a few things" of the Spiritual Sense is to claim that God giveth the Spirit by measure. But we are taught that "He whom God hath sent, speaketh the Words of God, and GOD GTVETH NOT THE SPIRIT BY MEASURE." (John iii:34) The verdict of the Report, therefore, is clearly contrary to the Word of God.

     The Report is clearly a compromise, the patchwork of a committee representing totally different tendencies and seeking common shelter in a house that is divided against itself.

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In one breath it declares that the Writings are very far from being the Word of the Lord," and in the next we learn that "in the common acceptation of the term the Writings are not the Word,"--expressions which evidently are mere verbal concessions to conflicting views, and which, when brought together, destroy each other and leave nothing at all. For it is clear that that which is "very far" from being the Word of the Lord cannot be the Word in any sense or in any acceptance of the term whatever. And what inconsistency between the statements that the Writings "are a Divine Revelation" and that "very far from being the Word of the Lord, they tell us about the Word." Who tells us, Swedenborg or the Lord? If it is Swedenborg, then the Writings are not a Divine Revelation, but if it is the Lord, then the Writings are the Word of the Lord, for what the Lord "tells" is the Lord's Word. "God speaks nothing but truths. Hence Truth Divine is called the Word." (A. C. 8861.)

     The Writings are "about" the Word, and, therefore, in the view of this Report, they cannot be the Word. On the same ground, because the Lord told about the Father He cannot be the Father. Are we not taught that "it is the Divine which bears witness concerning the Divine" (A. E. 635), and that "inasmuch as the Divine Human is meant by the Word, therefore by the Word is also meant all Truth which is concerning Him and from Him in His Kingdom in the heavens and in His Church on the earth?" (A. C. 2894.)

     THE WRITINGS A NEW WORD.

     Influenced by the fear of the world and its materialistic conceptions of things Divine, the Report announces that the revelation given in the Writings "is not a new Word, but is a revelation of the doctrines from the Lord contained in the Holy Word." What is meant by this but that the Writings are not a new Divine Revelation? To every new Church or dispensation there has been given a "new Word." To the Christian Church there was given the new Word of the New Testament. To the Israelitish Church was given the new Word of the Old Testament. To the Ancient Church was given the new Word of the Ancient Word: but to the Church of the New Jerusalem, alone among the series of Churches, there was given a new Divine Revelation which is not a new Word, and which is, in fact, "very far from being the Word of God!"

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It is clear that the Report looks upon the Sacred Scriptures and the Writings of the New Church in their merely material aspect of books, instead of their spiritual content of Divine Truth. (But for evidence that the Writings are actually a "new Word," see the Apocalypse Explained, nos. 641, 670, 948.)

     The introduction of the idea of a "new Word" may, for a time, throw dust into the eyes of New Church men and scare them with the imaginary notion that the acknowledgment of a new Word means the rejection of the old Word. But those who think spiritually will see that new or old, Most Ancient, Ancient, Israelitish, Christian, or New Church, the successive Divine Revelations are but One indivisible, consubstantial and continuous Word of God, differing, indeed, as to the external form, but absolutely one as to the substance and essence of the same Divine and infallible TRUTH.

     The Report states that in the Writings "the thoughts are the Lord's, but the language is Swedenborg's." Though this statement is misleading even on the surface (for the thoughts and the language are one in a Divine Revelation), yet it could be excused if it really and honestly meant that the thoughts revealed in the Writings are the Lord's own thoughts in the same infinite sense that the thoughts in the letter of the Word are the Lord's own thoughts. But the statement is disingenuous, as is evident from the explanations which succeed it, according to which Swedenborg "saw what was the Lord's own truth and he gave it the best expression that he could." The Writings "bring down as much of the spiritual sense of the Word as Swedenborg was led to formulate" and "so far as he was led to believe would be useful." As ever the sting of the serpent is directed against the heel of the seed of the woman. All that the serpent desires is that we shall come into doubt as to the ultimates of Divine Revelation. If we will only admit the claims of Higher Criticism as to the text of the Sacred Scriptures, and the claims of the "highest criticism" in regard to "the language of Swedenborg," his whole purpose is secured, for if the foundations are overturned, if the expressions and the language of Divine Revelation are not trustworthy, then how will we ever know that the thoughts expressed are really the "thoughts of the Lord?" The thoughts might as well not have been revealed at all, if they could not be expressed correctly and beyond the possibility of doubt.

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Obscure expression always indicates obscure thought, but Divine thought creates for itself Divine expression.

     "The thoughts are the Lord's." The statement is a hollow pretense! What is meant is that the thoughts expressed in the Writings are Swedenborg's thoughts, merely human thoughts, though from the Lord in the same sense that all good and true thoughts with all men are indirectly from the Lord. That this is what is meant is clear from the statement that the books "are chief among the writings which acknowledge the infinite glory of the Scriptures." What "writings?" the human ones, or the Divine? It is quite clear that the Report would not for a moment place the Writings of the New Church as chief among the Sacred Scriptures, or even on a level with them. The meaning is, that the Writings are the most excellent in the mass of what is merely human and finite literature. The question here is no longer as to the "language of Swedenborg," but as to the substance of thought; and the thought which acknowledges something that is infinitely superior, is a human and finite thought for if the thoughts in the Writings were really the Lord's owe thoughts, they could not possibly acknowledge anything superior to themselves.

     The Report points out that the Manuscripts of Swedenborg "are full of erasions and corrections, and in this respect Swedenborg was different from the writers of the Word," and that the Writings, therefore, cannot be the Word of God. But how do the writers of the Report know this? Have they ever seen any of the original manuscripts of the books of the Word? And, apart from this, do they know nothing about the "Keri" and "Kethiv" of the Old Testament, and the multitudinous "variant readings" of both the New and the Old? Were they to look for imperfections in the text of the Letter of the Word and fix their attention upon them alone, and judge from these externals as to the quality of the internal contents of Doctrine, they would soon lose their faith in the absolute Divinity of the Word in the Letter even as, by the same process of reasoning, they have lost their faith in the absolute Divinity of the Writings of the New Church. To look upon internals from externals is to lose all faith and to grow insane, but to look upon externals from internals is to grow wise.

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     According to the Report "Swedenborg discriminates between his own writings and the Word of God." This is news, indeed, and certainly requires more substantiation than a mere assertion. Swedenborg discriminates between the literal sense of the Word, as revealed in the Sacred Scriptures, and the internal sense, as revealed in his Writings (and revealed nowhere else), but where are we taught that this internal sense is not the Word of God? What kind of a Divine Revelation is that which is the Word of God in its external form, but is not the Word of God as to its internal contents?

     THE VOICE OF ARIUS IN THE NEW CHURCH.

     The Writings "are chief among the writings which acknowledge the infinite glory of the Scriptures." What is this but the voice of Arius, "the serpent which was sent forth from Hell into the garden of God?" (T. C. R. 638.) We are told that Arius "would lift up his head, and when dead would rise again, and reign clandestinely even to the end." (Ibid.) When Arius was on earth, he attacked the Divinity of the Lord in His First Coming from within the Christian Church, and now, from within the New Church, he attacks the Divinity of the Lord in His Second Coming. In A. D. 318 he taught that Jesus Christ was indeed a Divine Revelator, and the Son of God, but nevertheless was only a created being; very far from being God Himself. He told us "about" God, as much as He and we were able to understand; but though only a creature, He was the "chief" among the creatures who bow down before the infinite glory of the Father!

     And now, A. D. 1902, and in the year 132 of the New Jerusalem, Arius glories in the thought that he is lord and master in the New Christian Church, and that he has so deceived a Council of New Church ministers that they have solemnly and deliberately ruled out the absolute Divinity of that Divinely Human form, in which alone He has effected, and through which alone He has made Himself known in His Second Coming. "Very far from being the Word of the Lord" the Writings merely "tell us about the Word." Though only human writings, "they are chief among the writings which acknowledge the infinite glory of the Scriptures."

     Arius, also, applied the term "Divine" to the person of Christ, but in a merely hyperbolical sense.

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Christ was of a similar substance with the Father, God-like, but not actually Divine in the complete sense of the term,-not consubstantial with the Father. And the Report of 1902 affirms that the Writings are a "Divine Revelation," but by this it means that they are "God-like," but not absolutely Divine; they are so excellent and sublime as to merit the appellation "Divine" in a complimentary sense; they are the "chief," the best and noblest of all human productions, of all human expositions of the Scriptures, but by no means to be considered as consubstantial with the Word of God. What is this, we submit, but Arianism, Socinianism, and modern Unitarianism, intruding itself into the Holy City, in the attempt to obscure and take away the faith of New Church men in the Writings of the New Jerusalem?

     Let the men of the New Church beware of imagining that they are safe from the affecting sphere of the Arianism which prevails universally in the Christian world around them. Let them consider well this warning in the True Christian Religion: "I fear that those abominable heresies, the Arian and the Socinian, lie concealed at this day in the general spirit of the men of the Church. It is remarkable that the more anyone deems himself superior to others in learning and judgment, the more prone is he to embrace and appropriate to himself the ideas concerning the Lord that He is a man and not God, and that because He is a man, He cannot be God" in. 380). What an illustration there is of this remarkable fact in the Report before us! Because the Writings of the Second Coming are addressed in intelligible language to rational men, and because Swedenborg understood the general sense of what he wrote, therefore they cannot be the Word of God. On the same ground the historical books of the Old Testament, and the Gospels of the New, cannot be the Word of God, because the writers, though inspired, appear to have written as of themselves, and certainly understood the general literal sense of that which they wrote down in intelligible language. Take Luke, for instance, who starts out thus: "Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us,... it seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus, that thou mightest know the certainty of those things wherein thou hast been instructed."

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Is there, in these words, any assertion of Divine inspiration more solemn than that which Swedenborg repeatedly affirms respecting his works? If we are not willing to believe the credentials which Swedenborg gives respecting his own Divine inspiration, why should we believe the credentials which he gives,--the only credentials that exist,--as to the Divine inspiration of Luke? But we believe that the Lord wrote the Writings through Swedenborg, and therefore we believe that Luke, in spite of appearances to the contrary, was Divinely inspired.

     The Council of Ministers, in adopting this misbegotten Report, and the General Convention, in accepting it and expressing approval of it, have done the utmost injury to the progress of the New Church within their sphere. They have set the seal of open denial upon the spirit of negation which has infested them for many years. They have declared themselves against the complete Divinity and consequent authority of the Revelation given to the New Church, and they have therefore confirmed themselves, by a deliberate confession of unfaith against the Writings as the Word and Voice and Teaching of the Lord in His Second Coming. They know not what they have done, but none the less they have denied their Lord, for the Lord has come to the New Church nowhere else than in the Writings. Nothing will undo this collective action but collective Repentance and a return to the Word of the New Church as thorough as has been the apostasy.
THE EDITOR.

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RELATION OF THE WRITINGS TO THE WORD 1902

RELATION OF THE WRITINGS TO THE WORD       Rev. W. L. GLADISH       1902

(Abstract of a paper read before the ministers of the Ohio Association in Cincinnati, February 20. Reprinted from the New Church Messenger for April 23. 1902.)

     To determine the relation of the theological writings of Emanuel Swedenborg to the Word, and their proper place and use in the Church, is of vital importance. Every doctrine that we hold, all that we know about the Lord, the Word, the future life, we receive from this source. We determine our rites, forms of worship, sacraments and Church order from the Writings. We read the Word in the light given by them. So that it may be truly said that as a Church we are founded upon these Writings.

     Our case is similar to that of the First Christian Church. They continually referred to the Old Testament in proof of everything they taught, just as we do to both Testaments. But no one would claim that the Church raised up through the Apostles was founded directly upon the Old Testament; neither can it be rationally or successfully contended that the Church of the New Jerusalem is founded directly by or upon the Word in the Old and New Testaments. It is founded upon the opening of the Word given in the Writings.

     Then are these Writings the Lord's or Swedenborg's? Does the world rightly call us Swedenborgians or are we Christians? If we have allowed any man to so interpose himself between us and the Lord, let us repent and cast his books from us and turn back to the Lord, who alone is Leader of his people. But if these books are the Lord's own books given through Swedenborg, then I do not see any other possible course that the Lord's Church can take, if she remains faithful and obedient, but to exalt these books beside the Word and render to them equal honor, obedience and reverence. Swedenborg says in the Arcana Coelestia (6597) that what he wrote was dictated to him from heaven; and he tells elsewhere how it was dictated, namely, not in words but into the rational mind. (See Adv., 3-7167 and A. E., 1183.)

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In the little work, De Verbo, he says: "As for me I have not been allowed to take anything from the mouth of any spirit nor from the mouth of any angel but from the mouth of the Lord alone." (D. V., 13. See also D. P., 135, and T. C. R., 779.)

     Even the devils in hell acknowledged that this man was the mouthpiece and instrument of the Lord.

     "By permission some spirits ascended from hell and said to me: 'You have written many things from the Lord, write also something from us.' " (D. P., 340)

     The angels also acknowledge it: "The angel said . . . 'Go to him who stands there', and he pointed to me, 'and he will teach you from the Lord.' " (T. C. R., 134)

     I do not believe that one of the books of the writings of the Church fails to claim that it is revelation from the God of heaven. (See H. H., 1, preface to A. R., etc.)

     And this agrees with the letter of the Word, "And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon." (Rev. v: 3.)

     In his "Ecclesiastical History" Swedenborg says: "The books are to be enumerated which were written by the Lord through me." (3.)

     And in the same work he says: "When the 'Brief Exposition' was published the angelic heaven from east to west and from north to south appeared of a crimson color with the most beautiful flowers." (Ibid., 7.)

     Think of the publication of a little book on earth causing such joy to the whole heaven of angels! Could any man's book produce such an effect in heaven?

     It is also added: "The advent of the Lord was inscribed upon all the books in the spiritual world and I wrote the same by command on two copies in Holland." (Ibid., 8.)

     Let any one who wishes to investigate further look under "Swedenborg" in the Potts' Concordance.

     These claims are true or else they are not true. These books are divine books or else they are wholly untrustworthy and deserve but to be buried in oblivion.

     If the Lord has himself given us these books is it reasonable or right to fail to make use of them when we meet together to worship Him and be instructed by Him?

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We claim to worship God in his Divine Human. Is it rational to meet to so worship Him and never use in our worship those books He has given us in which He tells us what his Divine Human is? We stand--if we stand at all--for the second coming of the Lord. "These books are the coming of the Lord: written by command."

     How can we make claim to stand for so great an event and yet not present to our people in our worship and to others who come seeking the Lord these books by means of which He presents himself and raises up his Church? How can we hope to conquer the world for the Lord and bring it to acknowledge the internal sense of the Word and the Divine Human of the Lord when we are content to use a form of worship which does not present or represent these things? We cannot but embody in our worship that which is embodied in our hearts and lives. The reading of a lesson from the Writings as a part of the worship is a testimony that the Church stands for the fact that the Lord has come again and done a new thing in the earth and we never can claim that the Church stands for or presents to men any such thing till she does use the Writings in her worship, not in place of a sermon, but as a lesson of instruction from our God.

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Editorial Department 1902

Editorial Department       Editor       1902

     "THE STANDARD OF AUTHORITY."

     AT the present most critical period of the New Church in this country, when the Divine Authority of the Writings of the Lord in His Second Coming is being belittled and denied as never before, it has seemed useful to republish in the pages of New Church Life the document in which was first announced the Doctrine that these Writings are the Word of the Lord and the Revelation of the Divine Human to the men of the New Church,--the Doctrine which now, after thirty years of almost constant discussion and teaching, has finally been repudiated by the deliberate judgment of the Council of Ministers of the General Convention.

     The document referred to, "The Standard of Authority in the New Church," was read by the Rev. W. H. Benade as the annual address to the American Conference of New Church Ministers, meeting in Cincinnati in the year 1873, and was printed in the Journal of the Conference for that year. But few of the present generation in the Church have ever heard of it, and fewer still have read it, but it is of too great and permanent value to be allowed to remain buried in oblivion. It is the most complete, able, and definite statement that we have seen of the Authority of the Writings, more advanced even than the subsequent declarations in the Words for the New Church, and expresses exactly the present position of the Academy and of the General Church on the subjects involved. In preparing the paper for our pages, we have taken the liberty, for the sake of saving space, to leave out a few quotations from the Writings and a few paragraphs which did not seem essential to the general argument.
REPLY TO MR. FROST 1902

REPLY TO MR. FROST              1902

     THE Statement respecting the Springfield Society, to which Mr. Frost takes exception in the present issue of the Life, was based upon a report in the Messenger for April 30, in which it is said that "Springfield has recently put itself under the charge of the Massachusetts Missionary Board, the Rev. Mr. Jepson having retired after long and faithful service. The chapel and not have been sold, and the resulting fund of $9,000 is held by the Massachusetts New Church Union, and administered in the interest of the Society." The language of this report naturally led us to think that the Springfield Society had become virtually extinct after several years of lingering decline. (It had 34 members in 1891, 27 members in 1900, and 20 members in 1901.)

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We now learn that the work there is reviving, and we are as pleased at this fact as we are at the opportunity to correct an error. The extinction of a New Church Society is to us a matter of sincere grief, and we called attention to what we believed to be a fact, not in order to exult over such fact, but in order to show the practical results of a mistaken policy in the Church. Mr. Frost, in his communication, does the same in regard to what he believes to be the results of the policy of the General Church, but we would not on that account stigmatize his statements as "unkind and untruthful."

     Statistics are notoriously unsafe as arguments for or against any principles, unless accompanied by explanations of underlying causes and circumstances. Mr. Frost, for instance, points to the statistics respecting the Advent Society and its present successors in Philadelphia and Bryn Athyn, in order to prove that all the efforts of the educational work of the Academy have resulted in no substantial increase in the membership of the Church. But he does not know that of the more than two hundred young people who have been educated in the Collegiate departments of the Academy Schools, only four have drifted away from the Church. He neglects to observe that a very large proportion of these pupils have come from other places than Philadelphia and vicinity, and have become members of the Church in other cities. He forget also that the Advent Society has contributed very largely to the growth of the Philadelphia First Society, more than sixty members with numerous children having left the Advent Society in 1888, almost all of these afterwards uniting with the Society in Chestnut street. The membership of the Advent Society in 1888 was 141 persons, but, through the separation of Mr. Tafel's followers, it went down to 75 in 1889. Since that time, however, there has been a slow, but constant increase, the two societies of the General Church in Philadelphia and at Bryn Athyn, in 1897, counting, together, 101 members, and 112 members in 1901, the increase coming chiefly from those who have been educated in the Academy Schools.

     As to the Philadelphia First Society, we have no statistics before the year 1889, when, in its first report to the General Convention. it reported a membership of 350 persons. In 1898 this had increased to 4471 and in 1901 the Society reported 444 members. In twelve years, therefore. there has been a net gain of 94 persons, some sixty of these having come over from the Advent Society. and a considerable number of the rest being "isolated" members, residing at Allentown, Bethlehem. and other towns. The growth of the Society, therefore, does not appear so phenomenal as Mr. Frost seems to think.

     Our correspondent is convinced that if Rev. Mr. Giles had said to his Society, in 1878, that it ought to establish a parish school, that Society would still be in the old building on Broad street, etc. In other words, the writer believes that the growth of the Society is attributable to the absence of a New Church school,--a belief which is manifestly absurd. If the neglect of New Church education were a sure means of increasing the Church, there should have been a stupendous increase throughout the societies of the General Convention, but what are the facts of the case?

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Take the Massachusetts Association, for instance, which is the center of disapproval of New Church schools. In 1891 this Association counted 1,811 members, in 1897, 1,849 members, and in 1991, 1,732 members--a decrease of 79 persons within a decade, and of 117 members within the last five years. As a missionary effort, the discouraging of New Church education has not proved singularly effective in Massachusetts. And the General Convention itself, which in 1892 counted 6,408 members, and in 1900, 6,926 members, in 1991 reported a total membership of 6,814 (hundreds, nay, thousands of whom are "isolated" members),--an increase of only 406 in a decade, and a decrease of 112 members within a year. Here, again, the disbelief in New Church schools has proved a failure as a permanent Missionary institution. On the other hand, in the General Church of the New Jerusalem, where New Church schools are cherished, the increase, though very slow, has been steady and encouraging, even from the point of view of numbers, as is evident from its statistics for the past five years:--in 1897, 287 members; in 1898, 454; in 1899, 485; in 1900, 560, and in 1901, 573. While we do not base our faith in New Church education upon these statistics, the latter, nevertheless, furnish their own testimony versus that of Mr. Frost.
"EVOLUTION" IN THE NEW CHURCH 1902

"EVOLUTION" IN THE NEW CHURCH              1902

     The difference between the doctrines of the New Church and the teachings of modern science respecting creation, is the difference between truth and falsity. The doctrines refer creation to the Divine Love and Wisdom, the teachings of science refer it either to a nothing, or, what is the same thing, to an impersonal and unknowable something; the centre of the one is the acknowledgment of God, the centre of the other is the denial of God. Proceeding from such opposite centres they are utterly opposed to each other and cannot be made to agree. But, unfortunately, there is in the New Church a widespread obscurity as to the interior quality of modern science. As a consequence many New Church men have labored at the impossible task of establishing some sort of agreement between the evolutionary theory of Science, and the teachings of the Church. The invariable result is that more or less of the falsities of science are carried over into the Church and obscure the understanding of the doctrines.

     The most recent attempt to reconcile evolution with the doctrines--to construct, as it were, a New Church theory of evolution--is that made by the Rev. H. Clinton Hay in an article published in the New Church Review for April, on "The evolution of man, a spiritual being." In the course of this article Mr. Hay give; an excellent and terse summary of the teaching of the Church concerning primitive creation, showing it at the same time in sharp contrast with the theory held by the scientific world.

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"The Teaching of Swedenborg," he says, "is not that each 1ower species has in it the power of producing the next higher and but that the power of creation constantly resides in the Creator, and that it is of His Divine order to employ the lower as the natural means and environment for creating, evolving, sustaining and perfecting the higher." Yet for the most Dart he seems to lose sight of this radical opposition between the teachings of the New Church and "the modern scientific doctrine of evolution." for he has much to say in commendation of the latter. Thus he regards it "as a part of the preparation of the new earth which is to receive the New Church," and he maintains that "the direction in which modern science with its theory of evolution is now traveling is the correct one," and that "the present tendencies of thought and research are in the direction of New Church philosophy." It is true that the facts and laws of nature which evolutionists have brought to light afford "wonderful illustration and confirmation" to New Church philosophy. They are, therefore, of the greatest value,--to the New Church man. But the "tendencies" of modern "thought," are to use them against true philosophy for the confirmation of a "scientific doctrine of evolution" which assails the most vital principles of the New Church and defies both religion and reason: for, denying God, it deduces the perfection of the created universe from a protoplasmic something hanging on the invisible edge of nothing. But we forget; evolution is not now the irrational science it once was! According to Mr. Hay it has itself evoluted, and this in the "direction of New Church philosophy." He is at some pains to point out that the Darwinian theory is now rejected by most evolutionists in favor of what is called the Lamarckian theory, which regards life as an added to matter by the Creator,--a personal or impersonal being, it is not known which--"its presence in matter producing the phenomena of evolution, the indwelling life struggling from an inward impulse to bring matter into the forms and functions it desires." Here, we presume, we have the "correct" direction which evolution is now taking; it has at last adopted a God. The "correctness" is not obvious to us. At its best the Lamarckian theory is nothing more than a concession to logic; it assumes the existence of a God, not at the dictate of religion, but merely as the necessary factor in a mathematical formula. It is nothing more or less than the kind of naturalism so severely condemned in the Writings. (D. L. W. 349.) To view it as to New Church philosophy is simply to give the whole ground to the Darwinians,--to recognize an evolution of spiritual truth from a science breathing spiritual insanity.

     The doctrine of evolution is essentially the denial of the Divine Will in creation. Whether the evolutionist acknowledge nothing beyond nature, or whether he ostensibly recognize some personal or impersonal Creator, he views creation as nothing more than the automatic development of life. He is willing to admit a primitive Life Force, but he will not a admit a creative Will.

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Failure to see this, the essence of all "evolution," has led Mr. Hay into the error of seeing in the Lamarckian theory an agreement with the New Church doctrine of creation. The latter he presents as follows: "Appetency [conatus]...descents, or is sent down by the Creator, from His own Being, from His Divine Love in His Divine Wisdom, through the sun and atmospheres of the spiritual world and through the sun and atmospheres of the natural world, until it reaches the ultimate it requires in the mineral kingdom of the earth, and there [it] begins the evolution of the individual intended and continues it to its completion by the unceasing., conscious, intelligent operation of the Creator...whether the Divine intention is to create a one-celled protozoon...or a man." Here we have the Lamarckian theory plus the idea of a personal Creator and a spiritual world. The additions are indeed vital, but Mr. Hay has failed to bring out their full force, else hostility would have characterized his attitude to the doctrine of evolution. Indeed a consideration of all that they involve, leads the New Church man to reject, not only the doctrine of evolution, but also the word itself as describing the process of creation. Evolution means "unrolling,"--the casting away of external things that what is within may stand forth in its own form. This is the only sense in which the word is used in the Writings, where it refers, not to the creation of form,-that is always called creation or production--but to the evolution of use from form, of the spiritual from the natural. How then can it be said that "appetency" begins the evolution of man in matter? Matter consists only of the lowest created forms, and nothing but such forms could ever be evolved from it. It is true that there is in matter a conatus which from its Divine origin ever aspires upwards. But it stops at that. It never becomes more than a conatus, and it is as much in matter now as ever it was in primordial matter. That there may be a further step in the upward progress of creation, there must be a new creation, an actual formation of new forms, not an evolution from matter. The vegetable kingdom consists of forms not to be found, even in potency, in the mineral kingdom; forms that are on a plane distinctly above that kingdom. Animals again are forms superior to all vegetables, and man is a spiritual form. (A. E., 1208.) That the Divine Wisdom used the mineral kingdom in the creation of the higher kingdoms, does not in the least invalidate the truth that those higher kingdoms were new formations whose ultimates only were taken from matter. For every original form of life is a creation of the Divine Wisdom acting, not from matter, but through matter, and also directly on the plane of the thing created. There is no evolution here, certainly not in the ordinary use of the word. If the New Church man must use that term at all in this connection he should first give it a new definition,--if, indeed, such a thing be possible,--one that would clearly distinguish it from the "evolution" of the world. This Mr. Hay has not done. By failing to sufficiently emphasize the truth that it is the Lord who creates all forms; by deducing creation from an "appetency" "sent down" from God, and more than all, by his unqualified use of the term "evolution," he has so presented his subject as to suggest that from matter on, creation was more or less automatic; and he has thus made an agreement to appear between evolution and the teachings of the New Church which does not exist.

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     We are somewhat surprised at the hesitating tone in which Mr. Hay speaks of the evolutionary position taken by Rev. John Worcester. In his Lectures on Genesis and Exodus, Mr. Worcester says : "I do not think of man as developed from another (sic) animal... but I think of a developing human animal advancing along its own line until, the animal part of man being complete, it was possible to add to it those human parts of the brain and of the mind by virtue of which man looks down upon the animal qualities in himself.... Up to this point it is an animal with animal affections, appetites, instincts. I doubt not that it is a good and noble animal....but there are as yet no organs in him to perceive the light of heavenly wisdom and the warmth of heavenly love." Quoting the above, Mr. Hay comments "This suggestion I have accepted and employed for many years; but recent studies lead me now to hesitate in granting so much to the position taken by the Darwinian school of evolution." So much? Where is the reservation? Wherein does this "developing human animal" without human organs, without a human brain or human mind, differ from the animal progenitor of man invented by Darwin? Mr. Hay adds that the hypothesis now seems to him to be "unnecessary." It is not only unnecessary, it is untrue,-opposed alike to the Doctrines of the New Church and to the Letter of the Word where we are taught that man was created "a living soul."
Monthly Review 1902

Monthly Review              1902

NEW PUBLICATIONS.

     The New Hosanna.* This collection of songs and hymns has been prepared by a Committee of the N. C. Sunday School Association as a companion to the Hosanna which has been used for so long a time in the Sunday Schools of the New Church and care has been taken that there shall be no repetition in the new book of what has already appeared in the old. The New Hosanna contains 151 songs and hymns arranged under several different headings. It is well printed and tastefully hound and makes an attractive and convenient volume. Many of the songs, both as to tunes and words, have been composed specially for the work, by New Church men and others. On the whole the music of all the songs is melodious, of a high degree of excellence and well adapted for the purpose in hand.

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In using the standard hymns of "other churches" the Committee has given "earnest attention" to the adaptation of the words for use in the New Church. But we could wish that it had exercised greater discrimination in this respect. In many cases it is not so much in particular words of a song that the falses of the Old Church show themselves, as in the spirit which permeates it; and in many cases the Committee has failed to detect this spirit. This is most noticeable in the songs which treat of the Lord, where the spirit so universal in the Old Church of looking to the Human and not to the Divine has not been banished. In several hymns we come across the words "Dear Jesus," "Dear Christ," and in one of them we read the following lines concerning the Lord, which, certainly, have no place in a book for New Church children,

     "And gave His own heart's life and love,
          For breaking hearts below."

     In the schools of heaven, the angels continually lead the affections and thoughts of the children under them to dwell on the Glorified Lord, and never permit them to rest on the sufferings of the infirm Human (H. H. 335). It should be so in the schools of the New Church.
     * The New Hosanna, a book of Songs and Hymns for the Sunday School and the Home. Pp. 169.     The New Church Board of Publication, New York, 1902.

     THE NEW CHURCH JOURNALS.

     Morning Light. May 24. Rev. J. F. Buss contributes a review of a 16-page pamphlet recently issued by the Scottish N. C. Evidence Society. It consists of an essay on Swedenborg's Philosophy, written by Rev. Oswald Chambers, Tutor of Philosophy in the Dunoon Baptist Theological College, and read by him before a "New Church Doctrinal Union." Coming from an outsider it is a most remarkable production; for the author includes under "the philosophy of Swedenborg" the philosophy of the theological as well as that of the scientific works, and it is difficult to see how he can speak of that philosophy as he does, and still remain in the Old Church. Describing Swedenborg's method of presentation, he says. "No assertion is made by Swedenborg, no conclusion arrived at, till he has patiently and laboriously traced it through each of these doctrines (of form, order, degrees, and c.), disclosing its roots, exhibiting its powers and revealing its connection, contiguity, continuity and analogy with all other things in its sphere, or universe, as he called it. . . . We deal, not with a dreamer, but with a scientist of the first order; and a study of Swedenborg makes it impossible to deny the connection between science, philosophy and theology as a scientific fact.'" Towards the close of the paper he says. "'Thus, a scientist, philosopher and theologian is presented before the age in the person of a good humble Christian man,--a mind master in science, master in philosophy master in theology.' " Mr. Chambers concludes by speaking of Swedenborg as "'a great and August soul,' " who has much to say "'to the gross materialism of France, the ideal abstractions of Germany and the sceptical medium of Britain.'" "'But,'" he asks, "'has either nation heard his voice or cared to hear whether any voice was lifted at all? . . . In the light thrown by this man's personality and wisdom, may our present age see the Personality and Wisdom of a Greater than Swedenborg.

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Mr. Buss states that Mr. Chambers "regularly includes the philosophy of Swedenborg in his class work" in Dunoon College. We are reminded by this of a speech made by Rev. F. Sewall in the recent Convention meeting, wherein he spoke of the shame New Church men would feel if some day they found the Universities of the world establishing chairs in Swedenborg's philosophy and then looked back to their own indifference to all but the theological works. Certainly, if Mr. Chambers uses the scientific and philosophic writings in his classes, he does more than any New Church School in the world, except the Academy.

     New Church Magazine. The article by Rev. Charles Griffiths on "The Second Coming of the Lord," coming as it does immediately after Convention has delivered its views on this subject, is peculiarly forcible as an illustration of the obscurity which so widely obtains in the New Church on the subject of the Lord's appearance. More than half of Mr. Griffiths' paper is of a missionary character and shows clearly enough that the Second Coming was to be a spiritual event. But when he treats of the Coming itself he leaves the reader quite at a loss as to what it is or when. Thus he says, "The Lord can manifest Himself as the truth," and "it is our privilege to joyfully proclaim that He has so come again. The world has actually in its possession a new unfolding of Divine Truth. Nor is this fact impaired or invalidated because this revelation has been given through the instrumentality of the man Swedenborg. Why should it be? How have we received the entire Canon of Holy Scripture but through the agency of man?" From this we would naturally expect Mr. Griffiths to draw the conclusion, that, therefore, the Revelation made through Swedenborg is as much the Word of God as the entire Canon of Holy Scripture. But he avoids this conclusion and immediately proceeds to say that the Lord "is now in the act of coming," which would seem to involve that He was not come. The same obscurity appears in the conclusion of the paper, "Let it please the Lord to explain, in some way, His Word. Let him dissipate mental perplexities.... Let Him impart, by whatsoever means He will, such an enlightenment as will produce irresistible conviction. This is the second coming, the revelation which awaits reception. It is the Lord in His Divine character of Holy Spirit; it is Himself in the form of Truth standing at the portals of the human understanding, beseeching reciprocation and admission." But where is the Lord to be seen "in the form of Truth," and whither are the eyes of the reader directed to see him? Mr. Griffiths is silent on this point. Nowhere does he say that the Lord has come and is now present in His own Form of Truth, in the Revelation made through Swedenborg. The reader is left to divide his attention between a "manifestation of Divine Truth" in which the Lord "has come again" and a general enlightenment "by whatsoever means He will" in which the Lord "is now coming."

     It is remarkable how the unwillingness to acknowledge the Writings as the Word blinds men to the logic even of their own reasoning. They argue that all past revelation was made by means of men and that, in like manner, the new revelation has been made through Swedenborg.

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But it is only to past revelations that they will give the term, The Word of God, or show the honor due to the Lord's own voice. The crown of revelations is merely an "exposition of Divine Revelation,"--whatever that may mean. It is not the Word of God. The same avoidance of the reason and logic of his own arguments was shown by Rev. W. A. Presland who, in a sermon published in Morning Light for May 17, says, "To the first Christian Church the Lord restored the Word of the Old Testament. . . and to it He added a new Word from His own mouth. It is so again with the New Jerusalem. She is 'the Bride, the Lamb's wife,' because to her the Lord has restored the doctrines of the Word lost to the former churches by evils of life. And as He gave alike to the Israelitish and the Apostolic Church new truths, so has He given to this Church 'things new' by opening the spiritual sense of His Word." To previous churches the Lord reveals a "new Word," to the New Church it is only "things new."

     Mr. Charles Higham contributes a valuable article on "The Photographic Reproductions of Swedenborg's Manuscripts," in which he sketches the history of the photo-lithographic movement up to the present time. The article closes with an appeal to the Church in England to co-operate in the reproduction of Diarium Spirituale.
NEW ARGUMENT AGAINST NEW CHURCH SCHOOLS 1902

NEW ARGUMENT AGAINST NEW CHURCH SCHOOLS              1902

EDITORS New Church Life:

     In the Life for June, 1902, is this Statement: "The Church in New England having rejected New Church Education is becoming rich in interesting ruins, the tombstones of defunct societies. At Springfield, the chapel and church lot have been sold, and the proceeds handed over in trust to the Massachusetts New Church Union." Now, this statement is as illogical as it is unkind and untruthful. Having been preaching for the Springfield Society as Missionary of the Massachusetts Association twice a month since last November, I can say that that Society is not extinct. It has not for years been in a more hopeful and active condition than at present, the Rev. Mr. Bowen now preaching there every Sunday during June. For good reasons the Society deeded its property to the Mass. N. C. Union in 1894. Last fall this property was sold for the large sum of $9,900, because this property with eight other estates was wanted for a large business block; thus the sale was the means of great financial help to the Society. Respecting the Warwick and Pawtucket Societies, which you mention, the writer has not sufficient knowledge to speak with accuracy. But while making the above note, would it not have been fair for you to have said that during the past year the Cambridge Society was organized of 72 members?

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     But let us note a few statistics in this same connection.

     In 1886 the Philadelphia Society of the Advent, Rev. L. H. Tafel, pastor, reported to the General Convention in the report of the General Church of Pennsylvania 124 members. In 1901, in the statistics of the General Church of the New Jerusalem, we find the Philadelphia Society reports 30 members, and the Bryn Athyn Society 82 members, in all 112 members. From which it appears that in and about Philadelphia where the Academy Schools have been most vigorously worked as schools for New Church Education, there has been no increase for fifteen years. Look now at the history of the First Philadelphia Society, occupying the same ground as the Academy. In 1878, when Rev. Mr. Giles became its pastor, it had not more than 100 members, with a Sunday School of about the same number. It now has a membership of 463, with a Sunday School of 223 members, being larger than the entire membership of the General Church of the New Jerusalem, which in 1901 was reported to be 396, although 182 isolated members are added to make the total 578. Nor can the writer find from any information or statistics at hand, that the General Church of the New Jerusalem, because of its parish schools, is increasing in membership any faster than the Societies of the General Convention. The remarkable increase of the Philadelphia First Society would seem to be due to the fact that its pastors, during the past twenty-five years, have devoted themselves solely to New Church Education, that is, teaching and preaching the Heavenly Doctrines of the New Church. It is the conviction of the writer, that if Rev. Mr. Giles had said to that Society in 1878 that it ought to establish a parish school, that Society would still be in the old building on Broad street, instead of being in its present large, commodious and beautiful house of worship, with a membership nearly five times as large and a spiritual influence an hundredfold greater, and extending throughout the United States.
Cambridge, Mass. June 6, 1902. A. F. FROST.
ONENESS OF THE WORD AND THE WRITINGS 1902

ONENESS OF THE WORD AND THE WRITINGS       L. C. KNUDSEN       1902

EDITORS New Church Life:

     Will you permit an isolated student of the Doctrines of the New Church, as an humble observer of the spiritual signs of our times, to give expression to some of the thoughts that have arisen in his mind upon reading the recent articles in your excellent magazine on the subject in current controversy, viz., "the relation of the Writings to the Sacred Scripture?"

     Permit me, then, to confess my profound astonishment at the manifest lack of comprehensive light on the part of many of the leaders in the Church upon a point of doctrinal understanding which is altogether essential to the safe establishment of the foundations of the Church; both interior and exterior.

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     The position which the editor of the Life assumes over against the radical misunderstanding of the point in controversy as represented by the other writer is self-evidently rational. My only criticism would be that it is scarcely emphatic or strong enough to meet the occasion. Nevertheless, as there may be a difference between a layman's and a clergyman's ways of fighting an enemy, relatives have to be counted with in deciding upon this point.

     Only the deeply interested student of the Doctrines can form an adequate idea of the real nature of the attempt upon the very inner life of the New Church which is contained in the argument that the Writings are something separate from or extrinsic to the Word or the Sacred Scripture as ordinarily understood. To such a one, however, the idea is more than absurd; it is insane. How can any one fail to behold the outlines of the Dragon in the conception of the Writings as something separate from the Word? Is not this the tripersonality insanity cropping out in the garb of New Church language?

     As the editor ably shows, has Swedenborg emphasized anything else more absolutely than this first and last truth, that the Doctrines of the New Jerusalem are Divine? Are not the Sacred Scriptures also Divine? What is Divine is not divisible. How, then, can both be Divine and yet be divided? The fact is self-evident that both perish if separated. For what are the Doctrines but the fibers out of which the Sacred Scriptures are woven? Destroy the fiber, and what becomes of the fabric? The literal sense of the Word, what is it, or where is it, apart from the spiritual sense, and vice versa? Does not Swedenborg declare that the Letter cannot be understood without the Spirit, and does he not also declare, that the Doctrines he formulated are that Spirit? The Letter alone would be dead and profane without the Spirit, but when the Spirit is added, i. e., recognized, it becomes help and Divine.

     To separate, or to attempt to separate or divorce the Doctrines of the New Jerusalem from their source, is to renew the old satanic attempt which was so successful at the council of Nice. Let us hear from all quarters of the Church as to who want such a divorce, and who do not. For the best of both, let the separation go on between those who would again divide the Godhead and those who would remain faithful. Let the latter emphasize still more strongly the First Commandment, that the Lord our God is one Lord, and His Word one.

     Plainly, the idea of division arises from the natural mind dwelling upon the mere external forms of the Scriptures, or from the habit of thinking and concluding from time and space. Does it savor of spirituality of mind to conceive of the Scriptures, inclusive of the Writings, from the mechanical form of the books in which they are found or bound?

     The Doctrines are the Word, teaching the philosophic mind. They are the Divine rays emanating from the Word as the Spiritual sun, reflected upon and from the earth or man finite. They are the communicating medium between the Infinite and finite man. They are what the Lord were natural words, to the spiritual, spiritual words, and to the celestial, celestial words, but in Him and in themselves they are Infinite or Divine.

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The Word and the Doctrines, the Spiritual Sun and its rays are one and inseparable.

     It is a fundamental teaching of the Writings that whoever attempts to conceive naturally of spiritual things falls into insanities, since this process is contrary to law, the law of influx. But whoever conceives spiritually of natural things comes into wisdom, since this is according to law, the law of reason. He, therefore, who thinks of the Word as a book, and of the Writings as books, can hardly fail to miss all understanding of their real nature and affinity. Books are minds. Minds are men. All books proceeding from the same Divine mind are really one book, one spiritual volume. Respectfully, L. C. KNUDSEN. Concordia, Kansas. May 16, 1902.
OLD CHURCH IN NO SENSE PART OF THE CHURCH SPECIFIC 1902

OLD CHURCH IN NO SENSE PART OF THE CHURCH SPECIFIC       EDW. C. BOSTOCK       1902

EDITORS New Church Life:

     I have read, with great pleasure, the articles on the Distinctiveness of the New Church, lately published in the Life. I think them timely land hope they will prove a benefit to the Church. It seems to me especially important for the Church to understand and appreciate the point made in the second article, viz., that the Invisible New Church is "within the visible New Church and not outside of it," which I understand means, that the New Church can not exist outside of those visible tangible truths in which the Lord has revealed it to man.

     But while I agree with the articles as a whole, it seems to me that one point is so presented as to cause some confusion in the mind.

     In the second article, published in September (1901), the author brings forward the undoubted truth that the Old Church is still performing some external uses, such as the printing and distributing of the Letter of the Word, etc., and then so presents the matter that the impression is given that this performance of external uses involves that the Old Church is still in some sense a part of the Specific Church, and thus in the heart and lungs of the Universal Church of the Lord. True, in answer to the question, Can there be more than one Specific Church? the article says, "No! essentially, internally, in the sight of heaven and the Lord, there can be but one genuine Church Specific at any one period," but the subsequent expressions leave a confused and obscure impression on the mind. For example, it is said, "Yet it is clear that a remnant of the Old Church Specific is preserved, while the new is being raised up, and that the displacement is not a matter of a day or a year, but of centuries and ages, p. 482.

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     Then again: "The Old Church has not yet completely rejected the Divinity of the Lord and the Holiness of the Word, and its worship is still to some degree--though in an ever decreasing degree--effective in opening heaven to those who have not yet become aware of the internal corruption in the temple." p. 484

     Although upon close inspection it appears that it is not intended to teach that the Old Church is a part of the Specific Church, when viewed internally, it does seem to teach that by virtue of the performance of the uses enumerated it is still externally a part of the Church Specific.

     It is right here that the confusion arises. The Universal Church consists of all the good in the earth, of whatever religion they may be, and when we consider it and the Specific Church as its heart and lungs, we are viewing the Church as to its internal quality, and although there are many externals, absolutely essential to the existence of the Specific Church, such as the printing and publishing of the Word, the maintenance of public worship, etc., yet the possession of those externals, their preservation and dissemination, do not of themselves make a man a part of that Church, although he can not be in that Church without them. Thus a man who possesses the Word, studies it and teaches it from some understanding is not in the heart and lungs of the Church Universal, unless his life so conforms to the teaching that he is in its love and faith. Yet such a man may perform many uses to the Church and to those of the Church.

     Just apply this to the Old Church regarded as a larger man. We know from the doctrine that, although this Church possesses the Word and professes to teach from its truths, it is not in the life and faith of the Word, and therefore is in no part of the Church Specific, although it may and does perform uses to that Church, by printing and distributing the Word, and to the simple and children by reading it in public worship.

     If we keep in mind the distinction between performing uses to the Church, and performing uses in the Church as a genuine member of it, we will see that the question of heart and lungs in the Church Universal is a question of the good alone, and their spiritual relation, and should be confined to this to prevent confusion.

     Turning our attention to the Universal Church, i. e., to the Lord's Kingdom on earth, we may ask, Who, at the present day, constitute the heart and lungs of that great man?

     The teaching is: In this man, the Church where the Word is read and by it the Lord is known is as the heart and as the lungs; the celestial kingdom as the heart; and the spiritual kingdom as the lungs. As from these two foundations of life in the human body all the rest of the members and viscera subsist and live, so also all those in the world with whom there is what is religious, and who worship one God and live well subsist and live from the conjunction of the Lord and heaven, by means of the Word." S. S., 105.

     Two things are here given as essentials for the formation of the heart and lungs, viz., the possession of the Word, and a knowledge of the Lord.

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Although details are not given here, yet it must be evident to every New Churchman, that a mere knowledge that the Lord lived on the earth is not meant, but that genuine knowledge which enters into the faith and life and causes man to worship the Lord as the God of heaven and the Church. This knowledge can be possessed in fullness only by those who are in the faith and life of the New Church, i. e., by those who possess the truths which the Lord has revealed in His Second Coming, and shape their lives according to them. At His Second Coming the Lord has established a New Christian Heaven, where He alone is worshiped, and at the same time He is establishing a New Church on earth, in which there is a new quality, formed by the genuine truths of the Internal Sense of the Word. This Church, be it large or be it small, must be the heart and lungs of the Lord's kingdom on earth, for the New Heavens can rest upon no other.

     Is not this what is meant when it is said that "the Lord has left the Old Church?" It certainly can not mean that He has left them in the sense that He no more strives to save them, for this He never ceases to do with all. But He has left them in the sense that they are no longer able to serve as heart and lungs to the Church Universal, for this use must be performed by those who are in genuine truths and thence in genuine goods. The question will naturally arise as to the state of the simple good in the Christian world. They possess the Word and read it; they also know the Lord, for they acknowledge Him to be Divine and to be their Saviour, but they are in obscurity concerning the Trinity and many other points. Are they also a part of the heart and lungs of the Church Universal? Strictly speaking, it does not appear that they are, for it would seem that the direct communication of the New Heavens with the Church on earth, which is the function of the heart and lungs, can only take place with those who are in genuine truths and thence in internal spiritual goods. This seems to be confirmed by what is said in T. C. R., 537. viz.: "Those who do goods of charity from religion, and thence do not do evils, before they receive the doctrine of the New Church, may be compared to trees which bear good fruits, though few, and also to trees which bear small noble fruits, which, nevertheless, are guarded in gardens.... In heaven they are clothed with garments of a red color, and after they are initiated into the goods of the New Church, they are clothed with garments of a purple color, which, as they receive truths also, shine forth.

     The simple good seem to come under this class, and since they are not in the New Church Doctrine of the Lord, and not in the goods of the New Church, they could not be said to be in the heart and lungs of the Lord's kingdom on earth.

     They must, however, be closely conjoined with the New Church, and thus with the heart and lungs, for from what is said of the order in the Spiritual World, it appears that all are ordered according to their knowledge of the Lord, which knowledge the simple possess next in order to the New Church.

     This also seems involved in the teaching of the Apocalypse Revealed in explanation of Chapter VII., where the very New Church itself is represented by the twelve tribes of Israel.

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After explaining this, it is said, "'After this I saw and behold a great multitude which no one could number, signifies all the rest who are not of those mentioned and nevertheless are in the New Heaven and New Church of the Lord, and are those who make the ultimate heaven and the external Church, whose quality no one knows but the Lord alone." (A. R., 363)

     These are said to constitute the body with all its members, while those who are represented by the twelve tribes constitute the head.

     As it is afterwards said that this great multitude are all in the Christian World who are in good from religion and in truths from doctrine, and who acknowledge from the heart that the Lord is their Saviour (A. R., 365, 368), it may be concluded that the simple good are among these, and that, while they do not, strictly speaking, constitute a part of the heart and lungs, that they are in immediate communication with them.

     I wish to call attention to one more point in the article. On page 485 it is said:

     "But if the Church Universal were already the Universal New Church, then the mission of the Church Specific would already be accomplished, and there would remain no more work for it to do."

     This statement seems somewhat peculiar, for since the Church Specific is as the heart and lungs to the Church Universal, it is hard to imagine the state in which this great man will have no use for heart and lungs. In conclusion I would say that be the simple good where they may, it

     should be very clear that the Old Church is in no sense a part of the heart and lungs, or of the Church Specific, for the Old Church is not in the Church Universal at all, no matter how many uses it may perform to the Church. EDW. C. BOSTOCK. Bryn Athyn, Pa., April 2d, 1902.

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GENERAL CONVENTION 1902

GENERAL CONVENTION              1902

     THE recent meeting in Philadelphia of the General Convention and its Council of Ministers has been a memorable one, and one that will have far-reaching effects on the New Church as represented by Convention. Decisive action was taken on two important matters, an internal and an external,--the status of the Writings, and the management of the Messenger. To the former subject although, according to utterances on the floor of the Council and Convention, it was the most important that could come before the New Church, the Convention devoted about twenty-five minutes, and the Council less than an hour. The discussion of the latter occupied a little over a day, the result being a radical change in the policy of Convention, as regards the Messenger. The Rev. S. C. Eby was appointed sole editor and publisher, with freedom to move the office of publication from the East to the West. This is the first time that Convention has appointed its editor by direct vote.

     The question on the Writings was introduced by the reading of the report of the committee appointed last year to consider who wrote the Writings and whether or not they are the Word.

     The committee's conclusion was, that Swedenborg wrote the Writings and that they are not the Word. The report emphasized that they were a Divine Revelation, but it denied them every attribute of Divinity. It assumed that the Lord is present only in the letter of the Word, and that He cannot be seen in a Divine Rational form. It asserted that the "new revelation" to the New Church contains no more than a few of the truths known to the angels of the lowest heaven, quite ignoring the fact that in hundreds of cases the Writings specifically give the internal sense as understood in the celestial heaven.

     But there was so much that it ignored that it would be a task of some length to point out all the cases. It was quite evident that there was no general desire among the ministers to discuss the subject of the Lord's appearance to His New Church, nor any general recognition of the vital importance to that Church of coming to a true knowledge of her Lord. Unanimity and harmony seems to have been regarded as of more importance, the report having been confessedly written to secure these. Unanimity was secured, at least external unanimity, the report receiving the endorsement of all but two of the ministers present at the Council, and the tacit approval of the General Convention. It stands, therefore, as the formulation of Convention's views respecting the Second Coming of the Lord. There can now be no dispute as to what Convention believes in this respect. Briefly, its faith is that the Writings are not the Word; that they are a "Divine revelation," the product of a man to whom the Lord opened "unusual sources of information;" and that the Second Coming of the Lord consists in the "new relation" of men to Him, brought about by that Revelation.

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     COUNCIL OF MINISTERS.

     The Council of Ministers opened its sessions on Tuesday, May 20th. On the evening of that day the Council listened to the annual sermon, which was delivered by Rev. S. C. Eby, his subject being "The Preacher's Knowledge."

     The first of the papers presented on the following day was one by Rev. I. P. Mercer, on "The Place of the Word, the Writings and the Sermon, in Public Worship." Mr. Mercer advocated the reading of the Writings in the Church services, as a third lesson, to precede the sermon.

     This was objected to by Rev. L. F. Hite, on the ground that since the Writings suggest difficult doctrinal points, the reading of them in worship would involve providing in the services an opportunity for questions and answers.

     To this Mr. Mercer answered that the passages read should be such are suitable for formal worship. Rev. J. B. Spiers added, that there was no more need of stooping for questions and answers on lessons from the Writings than there was on the lessons from the Word.

     Rev. M. G. Brown (Cleveland) strongly opposed the introduction of any "third lesson" from the Writings, because this would place those Writings on a par with the Word as to sacredness, when yet they had no such sphere of holiness or angelic communication as had the Word. The Writings were written to be understood, but the Word was written to affect the feelings. At a later time in the discussion Rev. W. L. Gladish (Indianapolis), referring to this last statement, said that it might be the case in Cleveland that the Word was not read to be understood, but in Indianapolis it was read for instruction and not primarily for the sake of exciting the feelings, or making one "feel good."

     Rev. W. E. Brickman, after referring to the success attending the introduction of lessons from the Writings in his own Society, addressed himself to what he regarded as the fundamental question involved in the discussion, namely, Whether the Writings are Divine or human. He believed that they were God's own truth in a Divinely Human form, the incarnation of the Lord Himself on the spiritual plane, the Divine Word Itself laid open. Mr. Gladish followed on the same line. He deprecated the looking upon the Writings as something separate from the Word. The two were really one. Rev. F. Sewall condemned the expression "third lesson." as applied to the Writings, as giving the impression that they were the Word. The Writings had been read in worship in the earliest days of the Church, but never as being in any sense the Word of God. While reverencing them, we should do no violence to the distinction between what is the Word and what is not the Word.

     Rev. J. C. Ager, referring to a statement in the paper that the Writings are "continuous truths from the Lord" (T. C. R., 508), maintained that this was a mistranslation. "Swedenborg does not say that." Being challenged by Rev. E. J. E. Schreck to give the Latin--which, by the way, is "Doctrinalia ejus sunt continuae veritates a Domino per Verbum detecta," Mr. Ager said he was unable to recall the exact Latin words, but he was well-assured that they had been mistranslated.

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The main point at issue, however, was that the Writings are not the Word. He believed in reading the Writings, and thought it might be well to sometimes substitute such reading for the sermon. But the claim that the Writings are Divine Revelation is an extravagant one, which would bring the minds of the congregation into inextricable confusion. Rev. A. Roeder opposed the reading of the Writings in Worship. Rev. Jas. Taylor spoke emphatically in favor of it. What we are to worship is not the Word alone, but what the Word means and this has been revealed to us in "words inspired from the Lord alone." The Church was in bewilderment as to the nature of the Writings. Everywhere he heard them spoken of as "Swedenborg's Writings" and referred to as of secondary importance, and as being "more or less" inspired. They were not Swedenborg's, but the Lord's Writings. His own books given by immediate inspiration. In the services of the Lakewood Society, they were read as the Internal Sense of the Word, and as the Second Coming of the Lord.

     Rev. A. F. Frost was quite vehement in his condemnation of the introduction of lessons from the Writings. He had formerly advocated this, but he now saw that it was a great mistake. We believe in one God and should keep away the thought of any other gods, or of a man. So we believe in only one Divine Book and are taught in the Arcana, 9411, to read from that Book only. We had no right to introduce into our services anything but that Book. To exalt Swedenborg's books beside the Word was to exalt Swedenborg beside the Lord. If the Writings were to be regarded as the "woman clothed with the Sun," then, indeed, they should he read in our services, as Mrs. Eddy's books are read in Christian Science services; but in that case they should be read from a separate pulpit, and by a woman.

     Mr. Mercer, closing the discussion, stated that he did not at present favor the introduction into the liturgy of a rubric to indicate the lessons from the Writings. What he wished to urge was that the Writings should be read, and since our New Church people will not read them out of Church, he advocated that they be read to the people in Church.

     Then followed a paper by Rev. W. H. Schliffer on "Marriage and Birth," in which Mr. Schliffer brought the clear light of truth to show the real nature of the secret, though almost universal crime of the prevention of offspring. He took hold of his subject with bare hands, and it might be held by some that his paper was hardly suitable to be read before a mixed audience. Still, the crime of "prevention" is so prevalent that it is absolutely necessary for the protection of the Church that true instruction he given concerning it. The action of the Council involved the recognition of this, for when Mr. Schliffer had occupied the ten minutes allotted to the reading of his paper he was paid the unusual compliment of being invited by vote to continue to the conclusion; that is, for almost twenty minutes more. It is to be hoped that the whole Church will have the opportunity of benefitting by Mr. Schliffer's studies.

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     REV. L. H. Tafel, discussing the paper, expressed it as his belief that the chief cause for the lack of growth of the New Church was the evil of "prevention." This evil was not unknown even among the members of the Church itself. In failing to preach against it our ministers had not done their duty.

     Rev. F. L. Higgins warmly commended the paper. He cited the case of a New Church woman in San Francisco, who was in the habit of instructing her women friends in the means of prevention. This great crime of infanticide existed in the New Church itself, and it was time to expose it.

     Rev. Samuel Worcester, speaking both as a physician and as a minister, hoped the paper would be read by every man and woman in and out of the Church. Every word in it was true, and far within the limits of the truth. He had found that marriages between people of different faith was the chief cause of the evil of "prevention." When a member of the New Church marries one of the Old Church, the latter almost invariably carries the day. Thus the evil is introduced into the Church.

     In the afternoon Mr. Tafel read a paper on "The Distinction Between Sin and Evil." Rev. W. H. Hinckley read a paper on "Methods of Colportage Work." This caused some discussion as to whether a missionary is justified in entering a house for the purpose of teaching or giving tracts, etc., without invitation.

     The first paper read on Thursday morning was one by Rev. W. H. Hinckley on "Spiritual Phenomena." The paper, which breathed the spirit of Permeation, attributed to spiritism, theosophy, hypnotism, etc., that they have helped to bring about the "new attitude" to spiritual things. The world has advanced in the understanding of spiritual things. The discussion of the paper resolved itself into a discussion as to how far a New Churchman is justified in investigating spiritism and as to whether he should attend seances. The unanimous sentiment of the ministers was against any such practice, though all recognized that the New Churchman should know more or less as to the doings of spiritists, etc.

     Mr. Higgins was especially effective in his condemnation of Spiritism. From persons who had been spiritists, he knew that the inner circle of spiritism consisted of free lovers, and all who seek this disorderly communication with the other world or attend seances come more or less under the influence of this inner circle.

     Several other papers were read, including one by Rev. John Whitehead on "Spontaneous Generation," showing that Evolution was utterly opposed to the teachings of the New Church--but none of them was heard in full, as the ten minute rule was strictly enforced.

     In the afternoon came the report of the committee appointed to consider "whether the Lord wrote Swedenborg's theological books through Swedenborg, or whether Swedenborg wrote them of himself from the Lord," and "whether or not the books are the Word." The report, which was read by Mr. Reed, was presented as giving the unanimous opinion of the committee. This committee consisted of the Rev. Messrs. Reed, Sewall, Goddard, W. L. Worcester and Schreck.

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     SYNOPSIS OF THE REPORT ON THE WRITINGS.

     After reciting the question which the committee had been appointed to consider, and noting that it is a question of the utmost importance, affecting the very foundation of the Church, the report continues substantially as follows: "The body of spiritual truth contained in the writings is a New
Divine Revelation. Both judgment and common sense show this. For those writings contain matters far beyond human observation, and the man who wrote them must have possessed peculiar insight and have had access to unusual sources of information. We must accept them either as a New Revelation or not at all. Swedenborg often claims that his writings are a New Revelation.

     The report then quotes the following teachings: That the things revealed are "arcana never before revealed (A. C. IV.); that "an immediate revelation is made at this day because this is what is meant by the coming of the Lord" (H. H. 1); that "the Apocalypse can never be explained except by the Lord alone (A. R. pref.), and unless there be a revelation from heaven" (A. E. 2); that "a revelation from the Lord is now made" (De Dominio 1). The report then continues:

     All agree that this new revelation is contained in the theological writings of Swedenborg. It is the distinct revelation made to the New Church.

     The question then is as to how this revelation was made. Swedenborg states that "the second coming of the Lord is not in Person, but is in the word" (T. C. R. 776), and "that it is effected by means of a man before whom the Lord has manifested Himself in Person and whom He has filled with His spirit to teach the doctrines of the New Church through the Word, from Him" (T. C. R. 779). Further, he says, "Since the Lord cannot manifest Himself in person, it follows that He will do it by means of a man who can not only receive the doctrines of the New Church in his understanding, but can also publish them by means of the press. That the Lord has manifested Himself before me His servant and has sent me to this office.... I testify in truth; likewise that from the first day of that call I have received nothing that concerns the doctrines of that Church from any angel, but from the Lord alone, while I was reading the Word. That He may be continually present He has disclosed to me the spiritual sense of His Word.... For his presence in the Word is from no other source than by the spiritual sense" (T. C. R. 779, 780).

     When the Lord came to man, he chose Swedenborg as the agent by whom that coming should be effected and gave him intercourse with the other world: but angel was his teacher in anything pertaining to the doctrines of the New Church, but the Lord alone when he was reading the Word.

     Certain obvious conclusions follow.

     1st. Swedenborg discriminates between his own Writings and the Word of God. The revelation is not a new Word, but a revelation of the doctrines contained in the Word. The old Word is not abrogated, but it is laid open. Swedenborg was called upon to receive the things contained within it. When these are disclosed the Lord Himself is brought to view; a new relation to Him is established on the earth, and thus His second coming is effected.

     2d. The revelation was effected by the opening of Swedenborg's mind to a reception of the light. He saw what was the Lord's own truth proceeding from the Lord, and he gave it the best expression that he could.

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The thoughts are the Lord's, the language was Swedenborg's. Thus the manuscripts are full of erasions and corrections; and in this respect Swedenborg is different from the writers of the Word. What they wrote was verbally dictated, so that the revelation made through them was Verbum Domini, truth absolute, Divine and literal. Not a word could be altered without hurting it. It stands entirely alone among earthly writings. Swedenborg does not claim that his Writings are to be on a level with it.

     3d. While Swedenborg was not permitted to be instructed by spirits or angels as to the doctrines of the New Church, his intromission into the other world was a necessary part of his preparation. He was enlightened as to the conditions of life among the angels who are in the spiritual sense of the Word, in order that he might understand that sense. This is another proof that the revelation made through him was not a verbal one, for in that case it would have been unnecessary for him to have understood it; dictation from heaven would have been sufficient. But the more he learned the better could he teach. His effort was to give the truth to others just as it came to him. He wrote it down and gave it human expression so far as he was led to believe that it would be useful.

     In the Arcana Coelestia, 5121, we are taught that there are two kinds of revelation,--by the living voice and by perception. The former was that of the prophets and was merely verbal, without any perception of what the words signified. Swedenborg did perceive the meaning of the revelation made to him, therefore that revelation was a revelation by perception. Such revelation is described as "a dictate from the Lord flowing into the interiors of the thought." Such was the nature of the influx into Swedenborg's mind, causing him to perceive the spiritual sense of the Word. In one passage (A. C. 6597) he says that the internal sense of Genesis "was dictated to me from heaven," but this must be understood in the light of the passage quoted above.

     The truths thus revealed constitute a complete exposition of Divine Revelation. But this revelation contains but a small part of the spiritual sense of the Word. Swedenborg himself calls that sense ineffable and says that in one word of angelic language are innumerable arcana beyond human expression (H. H. 269). His task was to render in earthly speech what he could. It is little of the spiritual sense that can be brought down to earth.

     In confirmation of that statement the report then quoted A. C., 8443, where it is taught that Divine Truth in the first four degrees cannot be grasped by man. "Divine Truth in the fifth degree is such as it is in the ultimate heaven. This can be perceived to some little extent by man; still a great part of it cannot be enunciated by human words....Divine Truth in the sixth degree is such as it is with man, thus it is the sense of the letter of the Word."

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     Here Swedenborg shows the limitations to which he was subject. All that he could give and that man can understand is comparatively little of the internal sense as it comes to the angels of the lowest heavens. What he revealed is of priceless value, far transcending human thought, but it is not the internal sense pure and simple; it is only a few of the things which that sense contains. This is shown by the very titles of Swedenborg's works. Thus we have the "Heavenly Secrets (Arcana Coelestia), which are disclosed in the Sacred Scripture." Swedenborg disclosed some of these secrets, but what he discloses is as a drop of water compared to what could not be revealed. So also in the title; to Apocalypse Revealed and Apocalypse Explained. The claim Swedenborg makes is simply that certain arcana in the Sacred Scripture are now brought to light. Very far from being the Sacred Scripture or Word of the Lord, the Writings tell us about the Word; they make the Word intelligible; they bring down as much of the Word as Swedenborg was led to formulate; they enable us to see the Lord in the Word and to receive Him in His Second Coming. They are indispensable to an understanding of the Word, and will never cease to be the key by which the Word is opened. They are chief among the writings which acknowledge the infinite glory of the Scripture. Thus Swedenborg himself viewed his writings, and surely, the attitude of all New Church men should be the same.

     Swedenborg says in the "Ecclesiastical History" that his books were written "by the Lord through me (a Domino per me scripta). But this statement cannot be understood except in the sense indicated above; they were written by Swedenborg's mind being spiritually illuminated.

     The conclusions of the committee, therefore, are, that in the common acceptation of the term, the Lord did not write Swedenborg's books, but Swedenborg wrote them as of himself from the Lord. In the common acceptation of the term his writings are not the Word, but are the fountain of a new revelation of Divine Truth from and relating to the Word.

     Rev. C. H. Mann endorsed the report and hoped that it would be given to the Church. Mr. Ager objected to the words "written by the Lord through me" (a Domino per me). A Domino, he stated, was several times used in the Writings to mean "from the Lord." and that was the correct translation in the present case. The same objection was made by Mr. Hite, but Mr. Tafel controverted their contention, as also did Mr. Reed in his final reply. Rev. S. M. Warren thought the report a complete and exhaustive statement as regards the position of the Writings. Mr. Tafel also expressed his appreciation of the report. Rev. S. S. Seward moved that the report be read before the Convention as the expression of the opinion of the Council of Ministers. Rev. E. J. E. Schreck supported the report as giving "on the whole a fair and true exposition of our ideas," as to the Writings.

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Rev. E. D. Daniels, while agreeing to the report as a whole, objected to one of its statements to the effect that without the Writings the Word is a sealed book; he quoted Sacred Scripture, 99, to show that the Word in the letter was not a sealed book to the simple. Rev. L. P. Mercer deprecated these minor criticisms of the report. "Let it go to the Convention as it came to us without alteration." It had more than words; it had a mental spirit, a tone of faith, a distinct and solid affirmation that the Lord is in His Word, that the opening of its spiritual sense constitutes the second coming of the Lord, whose revelation is in the Writings. The report expressed the views of representative men of the Council, and by further discussion of it we would only raise up endless bones of contention. Rev. C. V. Crownfield also supported the report. Mr. Mann pointed out that the resolution offered by Mr. Seward is not in such a form as to imply a pronunciamento by the Council or the laying down of doctrine by vote--a procedure which would not be orderly,--it simply contemplates the presentation to the Convention of an understanding of the Doctrines which the Council commends to the consideration of the Church. Mr. Reed, closing the discussion, stated that the intention in writing the report had been to present the subject in such a way that all could agree on a common faith around which they could rally. At the instance of Mr. Ager, who spoke against the passage of Doctrine by Councils. Mr. Seward's motion was amended to read that the report was presented to Convention as the "expression of the views of the ministers present at this Council," instead of "of the Council of Ministers." Thus amended, the motion was carried, with but two dissentient voices.

     Soon afterwards the Council adjourned.

     THE GENERAL CONVENTION.

     Convention held it; opening session on Saturday, May 24th, at 12 M., when the President. Rev. S. S. Seward, conducted the opening services and delivered the annual address, his subject being "The Supreme Message of the Church to the World."

     In the afternoon session came the reading of reports and the assignment of business for the consideration of Convention. A motion was offered that the reading of the report of the Committee on the Status of the Writings, which had been presented by the Council of Ministers, he assigned to 10:30 on Monday morning. This would give half an hour for the reading and discussion, if any. But it was found that the hour of 10:30 had already been assigned for the nomination of officers. It was then resolved that the report he read at 10:45 on Monday morning. Before this, however, it was suggested that the reading be immediately after the reading of the minutes. Mr. Sewall objected to this on the ground that many would not be present at Convention at that time. The report dealt with the not important and vital subject that could come before the Church. It was a most valuable document and should he heard by as many as possible. He preferred, therefore, that it take its chances after the nomination of officers.

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     On Monday, May 26th, the first business before Convention was the nomination of officers. Among the nominations made from the floor were those of two women for the Board of Missions. They were, however, defeated in the election on the following day.

     After the nominations had been closed, Mr. Reed read the report of the Committee on the Writings. After the reading it was unanimously resolved that the report "be accepted and printed in the Journal, and offered for publication in the New Church Review." And thus was passed practically in silence a report dealing with "the most important and vital subject that could come before the Church."

     Convention then proceeded to the order of the day, which was the consideration of the report of the Messenger Board. The Board's term of office expired on July 1st following, and its members did not wish to be continued in office after that date. This involved that after July 1st the Messenger would he without publisher or editor, as the latter's term also expired on that day. Such was the situation with which Convention had to deal.

     Mr. Schreck moved that a life annuity of $600 be granted to Rev. C. H. Mann as a token of appreciation of his work as editor of the Messenger for twenty-five years; and that Rev. S. C. Eby be appointed editor and publisher of the Messenger, beginning July 1. Mr. Frost moved as a substitute that the Messenger be placed in the hands of the Board of Publication; that after July 1 it be published weekly in magazine form; and that the price he raised to $3. A second substitute was offered by Rev. W. H. Alden that a new Board of five members, including the President and Treasurer of Convention, be appointed to have control of the Messenger, and appoint the editor, and c.; while a third substitute was offered by Rev A. Roeder, that Mr. Mann have unrestricted charge of the Messenger during the coming year. Mr. Mercer moved that these motions he referred to a committee to report on the following day. Rev. J. K. Smythe protested against any such reference, as taking the matter out of the hand, of Convention, which, however, had the responsibility. The moral effect would be better if Convention disposed of the motions directly. The motion was lost, The various motions were then explained by their authors.

     At the hour of noon the order of the day was taken up. This called for one reading of memorials concerning deceased ministers. Among these was a memorial concerning Rev. Ellis I. Kirk, a former minister of the General Church.

     The afternoon session on Monday was, according to the custom of Convention, devoted mainly to the consideration of missionary work.

     On Tuesday morning the discussion of the Messenger resolutions was resumed. The debate was long and vigorous, and mainly concerned the question as to whether the editor should be appointed by direct vote of Convention, or by a committee. Messrs. Reed, Warren, Goddard. Hobart and others were emphatic in preferring the latter course, holding that a large body could not have the personal knowledge or freedom of discussion necessary to the appointment of an editor. But Messrs. Mercer, Roeder, Schreck, Ager, Landenberger and others were equally emphatic on the other side.

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Finally all the resolutions were laid on the table and Mr. Schreck brought before the meeting the real question in dispute, by a motion that the editor be appointed by direct vote of the Convention. This was a signal for the renewal of the debate in full vigour. Finally, however, the motion was carried by a vote of 51 to 37.

     Convention then proceeded to ballot for editor, but, by motion, no nominations were allowed from the floor. The result of the ballot was that out of 87 votes, Mr. Eby received 50. Mr. Mann 30, Dr. T. F. Wright 2, and Messrs. Sewall and Reed each one. On motion of Mr. Mann, the election of Mr. Eby was then declared unanimous.

     During the above discussion the election of officers was carried on, with the result that all the principal officers of Convention were declared reelected

     During the afternoon session the Messenger question was again the principal subject of debate.

     After much discussion it was resolved that the price of the paper be increased to $3.

     Mr. Warren then moved that the matter of providing for the publication of the Messenger be referred to a committee of five. Mr. Schreck immediately offered as a substitute motion that the editor (Mr. Eby) be also appointed publisher at a joint salary of $2,100. The debate on these motions showed an earnest desire to move the publication of the Messenger away from the East, with an equally strong desire on the part of others to retain it in the East. The former party were animated by a desire to have the editor in absolute freedom from all control and to contribute to that freedom by changing the environments of the Messenger. Two or three also expressed dissatisfaction with the past conduct of the paper. Various substitutes were offered looking to the publication of the Messenger in the East, bat they were all lost, and Mr. Schreck's motion was finally carried.

     This practically closed the business before Convention, and after various formal matters had been disposed of the 82d annual session of the General Convention adjourned sine die.
ECHOES FROM THE SCIENTIFIC ASSOCIATION 1902

ECHOES FROM THE SCIENTIFIC ASSOCIATION       E. L       1902

     IT will probably be a long time before the quiet avenues and Academic groves of Bryn Athyn will again be thronged by as many of our friends of the General Convention as came on May 28th to attend the meetings of the Swedenborg Scientific Association. We wish that such visits were more frequent, for we are sure that actual personal contact has a powerful effect in removing ignorance and groundless prejudices, even though they may not bring about closer relations between the General Church and the Convention or remove those differences as to essential principles of doctrine and life which form an insurmountable barrier between the two bodies.

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     This barrier seems to grow greater and higher as the years roll on and as each body pursues its chosen course, but the Scientific Association still performs, and, we hope, will continue to perform, a most important use in forming a common and neutral ground and point of contact between members of the General Church and members of the General Convention. While neither of these give up their diverging spiritual principles, here at least are common uses and a common affection of these uses, in the sphere of which mutual good feelings may be cultivated.

     The fifth annual meeting of the Swedenborg Scientific Association was opened by its president, the Rev. Frank Sewall, on Wednesday, May 28th, at 3:30 P. M., in the chapel of the Academy's building at Bryn Athyn. It was quite an imposing gathering, the most numerous that has as yet attended any meeting of the Association, more than two hundred members and visitors signing the roll. Of these some fifty or more were from "abroad," including the following names: Rev. Frank Sewall, Miss Maud Sewall, Dr. John Swanton, Miss Barton and Miss Hunt, of Washington, D. C.; Mr. and Miss Spamer, of Baltimore; Rev. P. B. Cabell, of Wilmington; Rev. Louis H. Tafel. Mr. and Mrs. Parker, Mrs. Hibberd, Miss Fritz, and Mr. Heaton, of Philadelphia; Rev. S. S. Seward, Mr. Edmond C. Brown, Mr. Raymond Cranch, and Mr. Champion, of New York City; Rev. Emanuel Gorwitz, of Bridewater, Mass; Rev. S.M. Warren, Rev. L. F. Hite, Mr. Horace P. Chandler, Mr. Hunter, and Mr. Kimball, of Boston; Rev. J. B. Spiers, of Contoocook, N. H.; Rev. and Mrs. F. L. Higgins, of Toronto, Ont.; Rev. and Mrs. M. G. frown, of Cleveland; Rev. and Mrs. James Taylor and the Misses Wagar, of Lakewood, O.; Rev. Reginald Brown, Rev. and Mrs. Walter E. Brickman, Mrs. Trautman, Mr. A. Trautman, and Miss Bartels, of Pittsburg; Rev. L. P. Mercer and the Misses Martin, of Cincinnati; Rev. W. L. Gladish, of Indianapolis; Mr. W. Niles, of Laporte, Ind.; Rev. E. J. E. Schreck, Mr. Arthur Burnham, Mrs. Cobb and Mr. Leighton, of Chicago.

     We hope, in a future issue, to present an abstract of the minutes of the meetings, but have space, at present, only for a few general impressions. The Association, it appears, is steadily increasing, reporting this year 174 members, of whom 38 were added during the past year. The reports of the various committees indicated continued activity in the work of revising and translating the scientific and philosophical works of Swedenborg, though nothing is as yet quite ready for the press, with the exception of the Diseases of the Fibres and the Worship, and Love of God. Steps were taken providing for the incorporation of the Association, for the establishment of a life-membership on the payment of $25, and for the safe-keeping of the archives of the Association. Dr. J. R. Swanton was appointed editor of The New Philosophy, and the officers of the past year were unanimously re-elected.

     Much interesting discussion arose from a proposition to rescind a former resolution in which the Association had expressed its disapproval of interpretative prefaces the scientific works.

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It was pointed out on the one hand that without such prefaces but few readers could form a comprehensive general idea of the teachings in the various volumes, and, on the other, that hardly anyone is competent at this time to give such interpretation. The proposition was overwhelmingly negatived, although it was generally conceded that it would be well to include in the historical introduction to each volume interpretative summary statements and explanations from Swedenborg's own works.

     The meeting on Wednesday afternoon was followed by a social reception in the evening, held in the spacious art-room above the chapel. Toasts were offered to the New Church, the Scientific Association, and the Academy, the latter two calling forth eloquent remarks from Mr. Mercer and Mr. Schreck. Many of those present on this occasion for the first time experienced something of the Academy social life, but nobody seemed to be particularly "shocked."

     The sessions on Thursday were occupied chiefly with the reading and discussions of the papers that had been prepared for the meeting. In the forenoon Dr. George M. Cooper read a very interesting and much appreciated paper on "Swedenborg's Science and its Service to Medicine," and Prof. L. F. Hite read an abstract of his philosophical Introduction to a new English edition of the work on The Infinite.

     Then followed the collation in the gymnasium hall. This turned out to be a banquet with toasts and speeches, instead of the simple meal which had been promised. The friends seemed so contented with the delightful sphere that prevailed, and the gentlemen so loath to forsake their post-prandial cigar, that the genial president in pity permitted the next paper on the program, Prof. Acton's review of Swedenborg's Ontology, to be read while the banqueters remained at the tables. After the Association had finally re-assembled in the chapel, Mr. Odhner read his translation of Max Neuburger's remarkable tribute to Swedenborg as a physiologist (which was published in the June issue of the Life), and the Association adjourned after some formal business.

     On Thursday evening a number of the gentlemen met in a "Men's Meeting," where they discussed, in a very frank manner, the statement in Bishop Pendleton's address on the "Principles of the Academy," which of late has stirred up much bad blood, in certain quarters, viz., that "the laws, in the latter part of the work on Conjugial Love, extending from n. 444 to 476 inclusive, are laws of order, given for the freedom and preservation of the conjugial." (See New Church Life, 1899, p. 118.) Some of the speakers expressed very emphatic condemnation of the statement that these laws are "laws of order," confounding these Divine and therefore orderly laws with the imperfect or disorderly states which are to be governed by them. The discussion was the most interesting, enlightening, and inspiring that we have listened to for many a day, and we wish that every man in the New Church could have been present.      E. L.

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ACADEMY SCHOOLS 1902

ACADEMY SCHOOLS              1902

CLOSING EXERCISES.

     THE closing and commencement exercises of the Academy Schools, held on Thursday and Friday, June 12th and 13th, were most delightful occasions and appropriately marked the completion of one of the most pleasant and successful school years which the Academy has had. The conveniences of the new building, particularly the commodious and beautiful chapel, where the exercises were held, added not a little to the pleasantness of the occasion, and at the ending of our first year in the new building all were again forcibly reminded--as at the time of the dedication exercises--of the generosity and the care and labor of the donor, the designer, and others to whom we owe so much. It was a great pleasure to have the former, Mr. Pitcairn, who has been suffering from severe illness, again in our midst. Although he had not fully recovered, he was able to be present on both of the closing days.

     One of the most pleasing features of the exercises was on the occasion of the graduation of three young ladies from the Seminary. When the time came for them to advance and receive their medals all the girls of the Seminary came forward with them and ranged themselves on either side of the open space before the chancel. Immediately after the presentation, the girls, turning and facing the audience, rendered in a sweet and expressive manner Mendelssohn's terzetto. "Lift thine eyes to the mountains" (Elijah). The beauty of the song itself was much augmented by the pretty picture presented by the singers. Standing on the lowest step of the chancel were the first sopranos with a space in the centre, immediately in front of which, on the floor, stood one of the graduates, Miss Freda Pendleton: a little in advance of whom and on either side were the other two graduates, Miss Helen Macbeth and Miss Ruth Hicks, with the second sopranos and altos standing in a line at their right and left respectively. The graduates thus surrounded by their companions of the Seminary received from them the, parting greeting. "Lift thine eyes to the mountains from whence cometh thine help." And the greeting itself was an appropriate ending to a course of several years' study, in which the affections and thoughts have been constantly led to look up to the Lord alone as the source of all help and strength.

     Another pleasing feature was the series of tableaux presented on Thursday evening, illustrating the progressive states of the Church from the time of the preadamites to the New Church. Despite the long intervals between the different presentations, which were the more irksome on account of the prevailing heat, the tableaux were much appreciated by the whole audience. The effectiveness of these tableaux was immeasurably increased by the lighting arrangements, which were under the entire direction of Mr. Edro Cranch, ably assisted by two of the college students, Alex. Lindsay and Edward Bostock.

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The lights were incandescent electric and were used both as foot lights and as top lights. By means of a rheostat they were so controlled that the preadamic age could be presented in dimness and the New Church in the greatest brightness, with varying
gradalions of light between.

     On Thursday, June 12th, the first day of the closing exercises, the members and friends of the School assembled in the chapel at 11 a. m. Simple services were conducted by the Superintendent, Rev. W. F. Pendleton, assisted by Prof. Price and Prof. Acton. After singing and the reading of lessons, papers were read by the two graduates of the Theological School, Mr. Alfred H. Stroh and Mr. William B. Caldwell. Mr. Stroh took as the subject of his thesis "Discreet Degrees and Influx," while Mr. Caldwell delivered the valedictory, wherein he dwelt on the true ends of a life of use.

     After the reading of the theses Mr. Pendleton, calling the three graduates of the Seminary before him, presented them with gold medals and in a few well chosen words, speaking in the name of the teachers and faculty of the Seminary, wished them God speed. After receiving their medals, the graduates handed to the superintendent a book as a gift to the Academy in token of their gratitude for all they had received in its schools. The pupils of the Seminary then united in singing, under the direction of Mr. Acton, the terzetto. "Lift thine eyes to the mountains." After they had taken their seats, Mr. Pendleton spoke at greater length to the graduates. He dwelt on the fact that the greater liberty into which they mere about to enter would bring them greater responsibility; they should not shun this, but rather welcome it, because greater liberty and responsibility also brought them enlarged means of usefulness. The training they had received had been to enable them to use their liberty and to meet their responsibilities that they may become true and useful members of the Church. Mr. Pendleton closed his remarks with the simple word "Farewell." The graduates were then each presented by the principal of the Seminary. Miss Sherman, with a bouquet of white roses. This concluded the graduation exercises of the Seminary.

     Mr. Price, the Principal of the College, then read the Roll of Honor for the boys of his department, after which the services were brought to a close.

     In the evening of the same day an entertainment took place in the gymnasium, where a stage had been erected. A cleverly-acted play was rendered by six of the scholars under the direction of Prof. Price.

     The play was followed by a series of splendid tableaux, given by the pupils of the school, in which were represented the progressive ages of the Church on earth.

     The first of thee tableaux represented the Preadamites and their elevation by the Lord. The scene opened almost in darkness; soon a ray of light was seen shining down upon the head of a man clothed in skins and crouching upon the ground.

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As the man gradually lifted his eyes to the light, the scene grew brighter, the light revealing a woman, standing near the man, also clothed in skins, and with him looking up to the light. The second tableau opened in a blaze of light. It represented the Most Ancient Church. The revelation to that church in dreams and visions was pictured by a patriarch lying on a couch, on whose upturned face streamed a ray of light from Heaven, while his wife sat at the head of the couch; its Conjugial Love was represented by a conjugial pair surrounded by little children, which made the centre of the picture. The wife was holding out her hand to receive a red rose from her husband.

     The third tableau, representing the decline of the Most Ancient Church, was seen in a lurid red light which gradually decreased to darkness, representing the time of the flood. An old man, thicket and deformed, stood somewhat at the back, while his wife, little in stature, was standing at some distance from him (S. D. 3579, 3589). But they were with backs slightly turned to each other, and their gaze fixed not on each other, but on their children ranged in a row in front of them.

     The Ancient Church, which was the subject of the next tableau, was represented by a husband reading from a scroll to his wife who was reclining on the ground looking up to him, while around were children, some listening to the reading and others sporting. This was to represent that in the Ancient Church, heaven and Conjugial Love were given to men by means of the written Word. This tableau was presented in light somewhat less bright than that of the second tableau.

     Then followed the decline of the Ancient Church, or the Cooper Age, where the light was still less bright. At one end of the stage was a husband and his wife listening to a patriarch who was reading to them the traditions of the Most Ancient Church; while at the other end, seen in shade, were a man and woman prostrate before idols representing that when the science of correspondences was lost men easily fell into idolatry. Between the two groups was a third couple, the wife with gaze turned to the idols, and the husband with an idol in his hand, looking questioningly to the patriarch. During the progress of this tableau the light grew gradually dimmer.

     The next picture illustrated the Iron Age, when idolatry prevailed, and when a merely representative Church was established by the Lord. At one side in deep shade were all the men of the former tableau, prostrate before idol, while under the folds of the dress of the patriarch, who was also prostrate, was seen the roll containing the teachings of the former churches. On the other side in light was an altar on which incense was burning. On the altar a ray of light was streaming. A Jewish priest stood before it with hands uplifted to heaven, but with his back to the light, while before him some worshipers were kneeling. In the background, two women were seen, engaged in various occupations. This represented the complete separation of husband and wife in the things of the Church. As the light decreased the upraised arms of the priest were gradually lowered. The ray of light was still seen in the darkness, descending upon the altar; but, at last, even this was extinguished and there was total darkness,--representing the Church at the time of the First Advent.

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     The seventh tableau opened in a bright light, which revealed a woman clothed in shining black and holding the closed Word in her hands. This represented the Letter of the Word, which was, for the most part, a sealed book to the men of the First Christian Church. The instruction of that Church was represented by a bishop who was looking to the Word and beckoning with his hand to a husband and wife who were also facing the Word.

     Then came a representation of the destruction of the Christian Church by the conceits of self-intelligence. The woman holding the Word was dressed in opaque black and her hair was disheveled. In the darkened centre of the picture stood three men clothed in black with their backs to the Word and eagerly listening to another man who was pointing to himself; while beyond them in some light was the couple seen in the preceding tableau, lying in disconsolate and despairing attitudes. The side where was the Word, was lightened, but the light gradually decreased to darkness.

     Then came the representation of the New Church. This tableau opened in a full blaze of light, which showed the New Church as the crown of Churches. It was represented by a husband and wife standing before the opened Word from which light was shining upon their faces. On the altar on which the Word lay, was the inscription, "Nunc licet," while above in the background was another inscription, "Love truly conjugial," written in golden letters and surmounted by a crown. On one side of the picture stood the couple who represented Conjugial Love in the Most Ancient Church. They were looking to the Word, and the husband held in his hand, stretched to the New Church, a golden pomegranate. Facing this couple and on the other side, stood the couple who represented the Ancient Church,--the husband with the scroll in his hand, and the wife offering to the New Church a bunch of silver grapes; while a little behind, and between the New Church and the Ancient Church, stood the couple who represented the Christian Church, the wife holding her hands outstretched to the open Word. Each of the couples, except the last named, had one or two little children beside them.

     It is impossible by this description to convey any but a faint idea of the beauty of the different scenes as they presented themselves. The charming contrasts of light and shade, the effects of the various costumes, the gracefulness of the poses, the beauty of the wives, and, not least, the sweetness and innocence in the faces of the little children,--these cannot be described; they must be left to the reader's imagination.

     After the tableaux, the singing class sang Kipling's "Recessional."

     On Friday came the graduation exercises of the Theological School. The services were conducted in the chapel by Mr. Pendleton, assisted by Prof. Price and Prof. Odhner. The Rev. Homer Synnestvedt delivered the annual address. After dealing in an exhaustive way with the subject of distinctive New Church Education, Mr. Synnestvedt read extracts from a paper read by Rev. Thomas Worcester before the Convention of 1856, and showed that the effect of this paper had been to kill the cause of New Church education in the Convention from that day to this.

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He also went somewhat thoroughly into the points raised by the paper, and showed its fallacies.

     At the close of the annual address, Messrs. W. B. Caldwell and Alfred H. Stroh having come forward, the superintendent conferred upon them the degree of Bachelor of Theology. In his address to the new graduates Mr. Pendleton dwelt on the necessity of ministers being careful only to present the truth, and not being anxious as to its reception. "All a minister can do is to give the truth to the people, it is the Lord alone who can inspire men's hearts to receive it; it is, therefore, He alone who can truly teach." But the minister must see that it is the truth that he presents, and to do this he must work and study in the love of the New Church.

     In the evening a general social was given to which all friends of the school were invited. The occasion was one of unusual warmth,--in more ways than one--in spite of the sadness of parting. Toasts, speeches and songs occupied the greater part of the evening, Mr. Odhner being toastmaster. But the great heat did not deter the more enthusiastic young people from finishing up with a few dances. The first speaker was Mr. Alfred Stroh, Th. B., who responded to the toast, "New Church Education." Mr. Stroh dwelt on some of the points raised in the Annual Address, and especially on the rejection of New Church education by Convention. After the toast to "The Graduates" had been honored, the three "girl graduates," with their two masculine companions-in-honor, were called to the dais, where they were crowned by Mr. Pendleton. The girls received their honors gracefully, but the heads of the "Bachelors" were too big, or the wreaths too small, to permit of the display on their part of much grace. Despite the attention he had to bestow on his crown. Mr. William Caldwell, Th. B., well and feelingly responded to the toast.

     To Mr. Raymond Pitcairn fell the task of responding to "The Girls' Seminary." The speaker evidently felt the magnitude of the subject, for after a few remarks on the value and necessity of distinctive New Church education, he concluded, "in the Girls' Seminary our girls are taught to be true New Church women, true wives and true mothers,--and this is a subject with which I do not feel able to deal,"--a sentiment which received much applause. The toast was followed by the boys singing some humorous verses, specially composed for the occasion by one of the male graduates, which caused considerable amusement and --encore.

     The toast "The Athletic Club" was happily responded to by Mr. Edward Bostock, who half humorously spoke of athletics in keeping boys out of mischief. Then followed more of the specially composed verses wherein the boys sang of their own defeats in foot ball and base ball, but consoled themselves with their victories in the debating room and concluded by advising the audience, if they wished to see "the right prevail," to see "Our Alfred in the Chair."

     Fire and zeal characterized Mr. Alex. Lindsay's response to the toast, "The Academy."

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He showed that the seed of the genuine love of truth was planted in the foundation of the Academy, and that that seed will grow and flourish so far as the pupils of the Academy are faithful to the principles they are taught. And ever, as the sons and daughters of the Academy, go forth into the world carrying the light of their Alma Mater with them, that light will increase upon the earth, until from that one small centre the whole earth will be filled with light and with the glory of the Lord.

     The last toast, "The Professors and Teachers," was proposed by one of the students, Mr. Gerald Glenn, who also responded to it, expressing an behalf of the whole school his gratefulness for the work and care of the teachers during the past year.

     In the course of the social the school, under the direction of Mr. Acton, gave a fine and spirited rendition of Rossini's "The Fairy Revel;" while the girls gave their own response to the toast, "The Girls Seminary," by singing Rubenstein's beautiful two-part song, "The Wanderer.

     After the speeches came dancing and then the parting greetings and farewells, intermixed, we doubt not, with many plans for meeting during the holidays. But as none of these things were entered on the official programme of the closing exercises, we must here bring our account of the closing of one of our happiest and most useful school years to a close.

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Church News 1902

Church News       Various       1902

FROM OUR CORRESPONDENTS.

     Philadelphia. Sunday, May 18, marked the beginning of a new period in the life of this Society. The service opened with the ordination of the Rev. Emil Cronlund into the second degree of the priesthood of the New Church, by Bishop Pendleton, who also received him as a pastor in the General Church of the New Jerusalem. After the sermon, the Bishop made public recognition of this congregation as a Society of the General Church, and then formally extended to Mr. Cronlund the call to its pastorate. Mr. Cronlund, having accepted, was duly installed, after which all the members were invited to step forward and give him the hand of welcome. The service throughout was most impressive.

     A meeting of the Society has since been held, and the name "Advent Church" adopted. The former Business Committee remains as the Pastor's Council.

     At a church social on May 21, four of the young men were presented with copies of Conjugial Love, as a recognition of their services in arranging the hall of worship ion Sunday mornings. Mr. Cronlund made some remarks appropriate to the occasion.     C. H. E.

     Renovo, Pa. Through the kind co-operation of our Theological students in the work at home, I was enabled, recently, as secretary of the Philadelphia District of the General Church, to make a brief but exceedingly pleasant visit to Renovo. On the war I stopped off for a few hours at Lancaster, where I visited the Rev. Mr. Dolly, a loyal and uncompromising champion of the Heavenly Doctrines. He now ministers only to the Lancaster Society, the Harrisburg Society having for the time being suspended its services.

     At Harrisburg I visited our friends, Mr. and Mrs. Emil Guenther, to whom in the evening I administered the Sacrament of the Holy Supper. The history of events in the little Society here, which culminated in the cessation of Mr. Dolly's ministrations, is full of dramatic or, rather, tragic interest. It is the old story of a self-willed and more or less influential layman deliberately creating disturbances, and finally breaking up the Society.

     At Renovo I was met by our old and faithful friend, Mr. J. R. Kendig. ("New Jerusalem Joe" his townspeople call him on account of his zeal for the New Church.) With him was "Joe Junior," now quite a man of affairs, but the same whole-hearted boy whom we met years ago at the Academy College. On the way to the Kendig mansion we met our old friend, Dr. Olds, with whom I had a long and pleasant talk.

     The next day, being Sunday, worship was held in Mr. Kendig's house, and the Holy Supper was administered to about a dozen persons. Three carriage loads had come down from the mountainside at North Bend, carrying with them, beside the Van Sickles, Mrs. Kirk and her family. The children were a delight to me as convincing proofs, if proofs were needed, of the untiring zeal which Dr. Kirk had for the Church and for the education of his children in it. It may be that all the readers of the Life do not as yet know that Dr. Kirk passed away last February. He had gone out to Kansas to visit his brothers there, and two weeks later died rather suddenly while sitting in a chair. The Doctor was well-known and much esteemed in Renovo, where he had lived and preached the Doctrines for a number of years.

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During his career as a minister, he was often under the necessity of eking out his subsistence by secular work, sometimes as a school teacher, but more generally as a physician. But through it all, his love was entirely in the work of the Church. Middleport, O.; Concordia, Kansas; Clearfield and Renovo, Pa., and Toledo, O., were among the fields where he had labored, often exposing himself to hardships which finally broke down his health. His lungs were never strong.

     But to return to Renovo. It was a genuine pleasure to be with these thirty or more hardy mountain people at the hospitable table of Mr. Kendig, all inspired by the same spirit which animates the members of the General Church. The repast was concluded by a hearty toast to the Church.

     Next day it was my privilege to proceed with Mr. Kendig to a choice spot by the river, where he has a cabin, and where some day a New Church camp meeting might be held. Then up, up the mountainside and some miles back into the country to the home of the Van Sickles, the "Pilgrims' Rest," well known to the many friends of Miss Plummer, of fragrant and poetic memory. Her impress is, indeed, stamped all over this spot, owing to the many things to which she applied her unwearied hands. The place was all and more than I had expected, and all too soon this happy visit ended. On the way back, by a long detour, I had the pleasure of an introduction to the trout of the mountain streams, through the kindness of our young friend. Joe. The trout were very nice, but--the climbing and tramping some twenty odd miles over the rocks and through the cold water!     HOMER SYNNESTVEDT.

     Missionary Work in Ohio. Since my last report, nine places have been visited in the northern parts of this State. Time does not permit me to give particulars, but the missionary use is becoming more interesting than ever. The isolated of our Faith, who are in the generals of the Doctrines, are in need of, and many of them in the desire for, instruction in particulars. Unless they have the generals of doctrine infilled with particulars, they cannot become intelligent New Church men. The particulars are obtained by reading the Writings. But conversation is a powerful aid leading to confirmation in the truths of the Church.

     The editorials and other communications in the Messenger and in the Life have recently brought the subject of the relation of "the Word and the Writings" prominently before the Church. It is well for this vital and fundamental subject to be discussed and considered. For only by an understanding of this subject, according to the Lord's Revelations, can it be known what the New Church in reality is. Those who are capable of receiving enlightenment will thus be brought to a knowledge of the truth, and erroneous notions will be seen and rejected.

     Several of the isolated recently met with have manifested a great interest in the subject in question, and we have had lengthy conversations concerning it. Every man who knows anything at all about the Church it; either progressing in the knowledge of the Doctrines, or he is receding from the intellectual knowledges he had acquired, till, finally he is submerged in the sphere of the prevailing naturalism.

     On Sunday, June 8th. I preached for the Rev. Frank A. Gustafson, at Buffalo, N. Y., in the morning, and heard him give an interesting discourse on "The Neighborly Love" in the evening. The attendance in the morning was small--only about twenty. In the evening the Knights of Pythias, of Buffalo, with their wives and daughters, attended the service, and the congregation numbered nearly two hundred. JOHN E. BOWERS.

     Middleport. For the last three months our Church social life has been very quiet, in striking contrast to the activity of the previous six months. In almost every family there has been sickness of some kind, in some cases of a serious nature, but the attendance at Church has nevertheless kept up remarkably well.

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     A month ago Mrs. W. A. Hanlin, a devoted and much beloved member of our society, was taken to the other world. She has always been most active in those uses of the Church which depend so much on women, and although most modest and unobtrusive, her strong sphere of love for the Church and its uses has made itself felt at all times, while the open sincerity of her character has endeared her to all. Mrs. Hanlin was a member of the Bradbury family, which has contributed some of the leading citizens to this part of the state, and which includes quite a number of New Churchmen.

     In March we had the pleasure of a visit from Mr. William Grant, of Kansas, a former resident here, who carries with him a live interest in all things of the Church.

     Our Church building has been newly painted and stone steps have replaced the old wooden ones. With its quiet surroundings of old shade trees, it makes a most beautiful and appropriate place of worship.

FROM OUR CONTEMPORARIES.

     GREAT BRITAIN. The 81st annual meeting of the Missionary and Tract Society was held in London on May 26. The report of the past year's work was not a very encouraging one. Of the nine small societies under the auspices of the Society, two have the same membership as during last year; three have decreased in membership; three have become extinct; while the remaining society is an entirely new one. Most of the time of the meeting, however, was diverted from the consideration of the report by a consideration of the great success of the distribution of the "Silent Missionaries." Mr. Jobson, the treasurer, who has had this distribution in charge, reported that postal cards had been addressed to about 43,000 ministers of all denominations asking for permission to send them one of the "Silent Missionaries." Close on to 5,000 applications were received and upwards of 6,000 "Silent Missionaries" were sent out in response. But it does not appear that all this activity and expense has brought a single person into the Church. Mr. Jobson was presented with an illuminated address and a vote of thanks. After this business was concluded, the meeting turned its attention to the needs of the diminishing and dying societies under its immediate care, and a resolution was passed that "the time has now come for the appointment of a minister to preach to, and in various ways to build up, those societies without fixed ministers or leaders in the sphere of the operations of this Society."

     The annual meeting of the N. C. Temperance Society was held in Plaistow May 15, Rev. W. E. Hurt, president, in the chair. The annual report "gave evidence of the steady advance of the cause of total abstinence in the New Church. The meeting rejoiced to learn that 26 New Church Societies, in addition to the General Conference, were now using unfermented wine at the Holy Supper. Replies were "yet to be received from twenty other societies." "Temperance sermons had been preached at (at least) 11 societies." Thus does the sphere of the Old Church overshadow that of the New, leading so-called New Church men to neglect the spiritual things of Revelation and to fritter away their time in co-operating with the Old Church in the advocacy of an external reform which closes men's eyes to their spiritual state and reaches forth its hand to defile the most holy sacrament of the Church.
JOURNAL OF THE SIXTH ANNUAL MEETING Of the Council of the Clergy OF THE General Church of the New Jerusalem 1902

JOURNAL OF THE SIXTH ANNUAL MEETING Of the Council of the Clergy OF THE General Church of the New Jerusalem       Various       1902


ANNOUNCEMENTS.

HELD AT

BERLIN, ONT., CANADA,

FROM TUESDAY, JUNE 24TH, UNTIL SATURDAY, JUNE 28TH, 1902.

ABSTRACT OF PROCEEDINGS.*

     The following members of the Council of the Clergy attended the sessions:
Bishop Pendleton.
     Pastors Bowers, Bostock,** Hyatt, Price, Odhner, Waelchli, Pendleton, Synnestvedt, Acton, Doering, Klein, and Cronlund.
     Ministers Starkey, Stebbing, and Brown.
     Candidates Caldwell and Stroh.
     * Of the proceedings of the Councils only those of general interest are published in the Journal.
     ** Mr. Bostock, on account of illness, did not attend until June 26th.

     TUESDAY, JUNE 24TH.

     The morning and afternoon sessions of Tuesday were chiefly occupied with consideration and action upon the question, presented by Bishop Pendleton, as to the advisability of introducing another minister into the third degree of the priesthood.

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The considerations presented in favor of such action are, securing the perpetuation of the Ordaining Function in the General Church, and assistance to the presiding Bishop in his episcopal duties. The Bishop pointed out the distinction between taking the step proposed and choosing a successor to the office of presiding bishop. For the latter action three steps are involved: 1. Ordination into the third degree as a bishop of the New Church; 2. Recognition of him as a bishop of the General Church of the New Jerusalem; and, 3. Entrance upon the duties of presiding Bishop. The first and second steps may be taken without the third, which is all that is necessary now. If a bishop be created now it would not interfere with the choice of another than he as presiding bishop in case of the office becoming vacant, and if that should occur the action now proposed would provide for the ordination of the one who should be selected for that office. The following statement was formulated by one of the pastors, and met with the approval of the other members: "It is to be understood that a priest may be ordained by the Bishop into the third degree in the Priesthood, and recognized by him as such in this body, but not over this body or over a part of this body. The latter relation can be established only by action conjointly with the Church."

     In order to establish the succession more securely the proposition was made to ordain two instead of only one into the episcopal degree, but as the Council were not unanimous on this point it was set aside for the present. The Council was unanimous, however, upon the advisability of ordaining one man to the office, and the Bishop accordingly nominated the Rev. Edward C. Bostock and the Rev. Edward S. Hyatt; and upon his inviting further nominations, Mr. Waelchli proposed the name of the Rev. N. D. Pendleton In the ensuing ballot Mr. Bostock was chosen, and Bishop Pendleton accordingly announced that Mr. Bostock would be ordained at the first suitable opportunity.

     The reading of the Minutes of the Fifth Annual Meeting was deferred, in order to afford the Secretary additional time for preparation.

     The following reports were read:

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     REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE GENERAL CHURCH.

To the Bishop of the General Church.

Dear Sir:

     1. As Secretary of the General Church, I have to report that the General Church numbers at present 615 members, showing a net increase of 37 members over the membership reported June 24, 1901. Altogether, 46 persons have been received as members since the last report, while, on the other hand, 3 members have resigned and 7 have passed into the spiritual world.

     2. The following are those who have resigned:
     Mr. Fred. S. Hughes, of Philadelphia.
     Mrs. W. Loney, of Keldon, Ont., Canada.
     Mrs. Emma Robinson, of Moline, Ill.

     3. The following are the members who have passed into the spiritual world:
     Rev. Henry B. Cowley, of Bryn Athyn, Pa., Dec. 2, 1901.
     Mrs. R. Faulkner, of Allegheny, Pa., Feb. 13, 1902.
     Mr. Henry Stroh, Sr., of Berlin, Ont., June 28, 1901.
     Mr. Robert M. Glenn, of Bryn Athyn, Pa., Dec. 29, 1901.
     Mrs. W. A. Hanlin, of Middleport, O., May 15, 1902.
     Mrs. Ellen Hunter, of Pittsburg, Pa., Dec. 29, 1901.
     Mr. William Loney, of Keldon, Ont., Nov. 22, 1901.

     4. The following are the new members who have been received during the year:
     Miss Edith M. Appleton, of Colchester, England.
     Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Ball, of London.
     Miss Lillian Beekman, of Bryn Athyn.
     Mr. and Mrs. Rudolph Behlert, of Baltimore.
     Mrs. Emily Brewer, of Chicago.
     Mr. and Mrs. Harvey I. Brewer, of Chicago.
     Mr. Roscoe Coffin, of Baltimore.
     Miss Grace Dwight, of Stafford Springs, Conn.
     Mr. Charles H. Ebert, of Philadelphia.
     Mr. Archibald Evens, of Randolph, Ont.
     Mr. John Evens, of Randolph, Ont.
     Miss Mary Evens, of Randolph, Ont.
     Mr. and Mrs. William Evens, of Randolph, Ont.
     Mr. Walter H. Faulkner, of Allegheny, Pa
     Mr. and Mrs. Henry Grebe, of Baltimore.
     Mrs. Annie Gunther, of Baltimore.
     Mr. and Mrs. Adolph Gunther, of Baltimore.
     Miss Emma Hill, of Berlin, Ont.
     Mr. Joseph Hill, of Guelph, Ont.
     Mr. Curtis K. Hicks, of Pittsburg, Pa.
     Mr. Peter Knapp, of Baltimore.

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     Mrs. Juliana Knapp, of Baltimore.
     Mr. Arthur O. Lechner, of Pittsburg.
     Mr. Herman Lechner, of Pittsburg.
     Mr. and Mrs. G. S. Leonard, of Glenview.
     Miss Anna Macbeth, of Pittsburg.
     Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Motum, of Colchester.
     Mr. and Mrs. John Potter, of Colchester.
     Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin Reynolds, of Baltimore.
     Miss Edna M. Renkenberger, of Columbiana, O.
     Miss Iva G. Renkenberger, of Columbiana, O.
     Mrs. Harvey S. Sponseller, of Columbiana, O.
     Miss Edna L. Stroh, of Berlin, Ont.
     Mr. and Mrs. J. S. Webster, of Salem, O.
     Mr. Noah L. Waelchli, of Omaha, Neb.

     5. The Clergy of the General Church numbers at present twenty ministers, and two candidates. The Rev. Henry B. Cowley was removed to the spiritual world, Dec. 2, 1901. Rev. David H. Klein was ordained into the second degree of the priesthood, by Bishop Pendleton, on October 27th, and Rev. Emil Cronlund was ordained into the same degree, on May 18th.

     As a matter of some interest, I may report that, by request of the publishers (Dodd, Mead and Co., of New York), I communicated some items of information respecting the General Church of the New Jerusalem for the International Yearbook, of 1901, from which the publishers prepared the following account:

     "The General Church of the New Jerusalem.--This body, in 1897, became an independent branch of the New Church, and now includes about 600 members, 17 societies and circles, and 22 ministers, its adherents being found in Great Britain and Canada, as well as in the United States, where lies their great strength. It is distinguished by an episcopal polity, and by special zeal in the work of religious education. In addition to 5 parish schools, with 120 students, the General Church has an incorporated Academy, founded in 1876, at Huntingdon Valley, Pa., the headquarters of the Church. The institution includes a theological school, and colleges for boys and girls, this work being superintended by the bishop of the Church, the Rev. William F. Pendleton. The year 1901 was made notable by the erection of a commodious new school building, with two dormitories. The Journal of Education is published as the official organ of the Academy, and New Church Life (monthly), edited by the Rev. C. Th. Odhner, who is also secretary of the General Church of the New Jerusalem, represents the general interests of the denomination." (p. 549.)

     I have quoted this article because it represents the first actual data that has come before the public respecting the General Church. Respectfully submitted, C. TH. ODHNER, Secretary. Bryn Athyn. Pa., June to, 1902.

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     REPORT OF REV. ALFRED ACTON.

To the Bishop of the General Church.

Dear Sir:

     During the past year I have continued to serve as professor of theology in the Theological School, and as pastor of the circles in Allentown and Brooklyn, where I make monthly visits.

     The Allentown Society is visited in the third Sunday in every month and the Brooklyn Society on the first Sunday. Mr. Child's family, at Yonkers, N. Y., which includes two members of the General Church and three male children (counted in the statistical report), does not attend services, but I go over three or four times in the year and administer the Holy Supper at the home.

     There is nothing to mention as to the state of the societies to which I minister. Affairs are going on smoothly, and the members are loyal to the General Church and what it stands for.

     In April and May, owing to the press of other duties, I was not able to make my usual visits to Allentown. The Rev. E. S. Price kindly consented to take my place, in April, when he administered the Holy Supper to the Society; and Candidate W. B. Caldwell kindly preached to the Society and conducted the service in May.

     I have also continued to act as secretary to the General Council. During the Joint Council's meeting last year the Executive Committee, at your recommendation, tendered to me the position of Assistant Editor of New Church Life. This position I accepted, and entered upon the work with the July issue of the Life. Further particulars of my work as Assistant Editor will be found in the report of the Editor.

     Last June you transmitted to me a letter you had received from the President of the American Swedenborg Printing and Publishing Society (Rev. S. S. Seward), asking for suggestions looking to the actual cooperation of the bodies of the Church, and, in particular, of the General Church, with the A. S. P. and P. in the work of translating the Writings into English. At your request, I carried on a correspondence with the American Swedenborg Society. The result of this correspondence was, that the Society made a definite request of the General Church for the appointment of one or more men to act as a critic or as critics of the translation of the True Christian Religion, which is now being made for the Society, by Rev. J. C. Ager. In making this request, the Society stated that it looked forward to a more complete co-operation between the General Church and itself, in the work of translation, in the future. The matter was discussed in the General Council, and at your nomination I was appointed to represent the General Church in the work on the True Christian Religion. This I have been doing for several months past, receiving the translation from Mr. Ager as it was made, and returning it with criticisms and suggestions.     ALFRED ACTON. Bryn Athyn, Pa., June 1, 1902.

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     REPORT OF REV. EDWARD C. BOSTOCK.

To the Bishop of the General Church.

Dear Sir:

     I have to report that in June, 1901, having been in poor health for time, I was compelled to resign the pastorate of the Pittsburg Society of the General Church. My resignation was accepted by yourself and by the society, and my pastorate terminated on September 1st, 1901.

     In September, I moved to Bryn Athyn and took charge of the Dormitory of the Academy of the New Church.

     During the year I have officiated at one funeral, two betrothals and one wedding. I have also administered the Sacrament of the Holy Supper twice, and that of baptism once.

     While in Bryn Athyn I have taught Hebrew to four classes in the Local School, and to two classes In the Young Ladies' Seminary, for one term.

     I also taught the principles of New Church Education in the light of the doctrines to one young lady for the same length of time.

     On April 12th, 1902, I Sailed for England to visit members of the General Church in London and Colchester. While there I preached five times in London, and once in Colchester.

     On Saturday and Sunday, May 24, 25, I presided over the First Annual Assembly of the General Church of the New Jerusalem in Great Britain. In this Assembly we discussed the question, "in What Sense is the Priesthood the 'First of the Church?'" and also the subject of New Church Education. The use of such assemblies was also discussed. On Sunday the Holy Supper was administered to 35 communicants. The Assembly was very useful and the desire was unanimous that such meetings be held annually.

     On Wednesday, May 28th, under your direction, I organized the Colchester Congregation of the General Church of the New Jerusalem, consisting of 17 members and having 34 children under the age of 18 years in its sphere.

     On Saturday, May 31st, I sailed for America, where I arrived in due time. Sincerely yours, EDW. C. BOSTOCK., Bryn Athyn, Pa., June 14th, 1902.

     SUMMARY REPORT OF REV. J. E. POWERS.

For the Year Ending June 23, 1902.

To the Bishop of the General Church.

Dear Sir:

     During the past year my time was devoted to various uses and duties relating to the ministry. The time employed in making evangelistic tours was eight months and fifteen days. The following items will convey a general idea of the work done:

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Number of cities, towns and villages visited               65
Number of places visited twice                         30
Adult isolated New Church persons met                    195
Individuals and families seen twice                         93
Isolated members of the General Church met               28

Sermons and lectures delivered                         54
Baptisms administered: Adults, 4; children, 12                16
Administrations of the Holy Supper                         12
Officiated at marriages                              2
Applications for membership in the General Church          5
Number of books sold and given away                    96
Communications written: Letters, 353; postals, 155           508
Number of miles traveled,--in Ontario and parts of seven States     6861
Amount received in contributions                         $381.20
Received from the General Church                         150.00
Amount paid for traveling expenses                         120.20
37 Lowther Ave., Toronto, Can., June 1, 1902. J. E. BOWERS.

     REPORT OF THE REV. REGINALD W. BROWN.

To the Bishop of the General Church.

Dear Sir:

     At the beginning of this Church year the Rev. E. C. Bostock was still pastor of this Society. Owing to ill health Mr. Bostock was unable to minister regularly and he resigned, his resignation taking effect on September 1st, 1901. During that time I still continued as his assistant, but since then have served the Society as its minister. During the months of July and August, 1901, Candidate Wm. B. Caldwell filled the pulpit.

     All things have conspired to make this year a prosperous and happy one. This in great measure has been due to the frequent visits we have enjoyed. from you, acting as you have been as Pastor by virtue of your office as Bishop. The successful meetings of the First Pittsburg District Assembly held here in October last were also a great stimulus to the life and activity of the Society.

     Weekly Wednesday Suppers were introduced in January; under a cloud of doubt at first; this, however, was soon dispelled. This institution has proved its worth, and has come to stay. The Suppers were followed by regular Doctrinal and Singing Classes.

     A Sunday School was another new feature. This was for children not able to attend the regular day school, and was held on Sunday afternoons at 3:15, with an average attendance of 8 or 9.

     The society has grown very appreciably during the year. The need of a new place of worship is being felt more and more--a place which may be devoted solely to the uses of worship, as well as provide ample accommodations for increase. A move has already been made in this direction, and we hope that actual work may be begun in the near future. Respectfully submitted, REGINALD W. BROWN. Pittsburg, Pa., June, 1902.

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     REPORT OF REV. EMIL R. CRONLUND.

To the Bishop of the General Church.

Dear Sir:

     Public worship has been conducted by me every Sunday, the average attendance being about the same as that reported last year. Doctrinal classes have been held on Wednesday nights, at private houses. The work Heaven and Hell, has been used as text books, but occasionally Memorable Relations have been read in connection with the lessons in order to bring further light and illustration on the subject.

     In the Young Folks' Classes we are still studying the True Christian Religion. My effort has been to teach young people of the society what the New Church is and how it differs from the old. When a chapter has been read it is reviewed, and each member of the class is examined. This method has been a means not only to cultivate the memory, but it has also led them to think for themselves, and so the doctrines of the Church have been more deeply impressed on their minds.

     The Sunday School, though small, has been divided into two classes, Miss Sophie Roehner having taught the smaller children during the past year.

     I have baptized one infant.

     At a meeting of the congregation Called by you on the eleventh of May, it was decided that the time had come to organize into a regular society of the General Church. I was then chosen pastor of the society, and on the following Sunday was ordained by you into the second degree of the priesthood, when the society was also received and recognized by you as a regular society of General Church of the New Jerusalem.

     On the eighth of June the society adopted the name, "The Advent Church." Respectfully submitted. EMIL R. CRONLUND. Philadelphia, June 19th, 1902.

     REPORT OF REV. ANDREW CZERNY.

To the Bishop of the General Church.

Dear Sir:

     After the meeting of the Council of the Clergy last June, I returned to Chicago to continue the work I had begun about two years before. A few weeks later I received your letter, informing me that as the Rev. E. C. Bostock was still prevented by illness from going to England to take charge of the work of the General Church there, you desired me to go. I made your wishes known to the members of the Circle to which I had been ministering, and took leave of them, promising to return as soon E. C. Bostock should be able to take charge of the work in England, which it was expected he would be able to do by next autumn.

     I arrived in London on the 18th of September. A few days later I met the Church Committee to make the necessary arrangements for the work. As the Colchester Society was also without a pastor at the time, it was suggested that I hold services alternately in London and Colchester. This plan met with approval in Colchester, and has been followed up to the present time.

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     The friends in both places had passed through a very trying period, and desired, above all things, to be able to meet again for worship in a state of peace.

     The London friends had been anxiously looking for Mr. Bostock's return. They had invited him to become their pastor, and they greatly regretted that the state of his health does not permit it.

     Acting upon your instructions, I also opened a School here in London. Fifteen pupils have attended, all of them children of members and friends of the General Church. I have only one assistant, Miss M. L. Bedwell, about whose faithful and efficient services I have reported to you on previous occasions.

     The members and friends of the General Church in England had the pleasure of having the Rev. E. C. Bostock once more in their midst, although only for a short time. He remained here six weeks, and his visit was very much appreciated. Mr. Bostock's presence did much to unite the friends here more closely with each other, and with the General Church. The latter fact became particularly apparent at the Assembly held here in London during his visit. A sphere of harmony prevailed throughout, and everyone felt that even though the particular bodies of the General Church be separated by space they are one in spirit and in their unquestioning acceptance of the Doctrines. Respectfully submitted, ANDREW CZERNY. London, June 6th, 1902.

     REPORT OF REV. RICHARD DE CHARMS.

To the Bishop of the General Church.

Dear Sir:

     The pastoral work done by me in this church during the past year was as follows: Regular services of worship were held each Lord's day. The Sacrament of the Holy Supper was administered in connection with the celebration of the Lord's Birth and Resurrection. There have been no marriages or deaths within the year. The ordinance of Baptism was administered once to an infant. An afternoon class for the study of the Divine Providence has been held at the chapel. Also an evening class at the house of one of the members, the work New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Doctrine being used. The instruction in this latter class was given in the form of a conversational talk. We have had a series of monthly social meetings which proved very pleasant and useful. It would seem unnecessary to refer to the state of the Church here. Your visit in person and information received since has doubtless enabled you to form a just judgment in this regard. Yours fraternally, RICHARD DE CHARMS. Denver, Colo., June 5, 1902.

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     REPORT OF REV. CHARLES E. DOERING.

To the Bishop of the General Church.

Dear Sir:

     I have done no ministerial work during the past year, but have been engaged in teaching in the College and Girls Seminary of the Academy of the New Church and since New Year's also in the Local School at Bryn Athyn. Bryn Athyn, Pa., June 1, 1902. C. E. DOERING.

     REPORT OF REV. EDWARD S. HYATT.

To the Bishop of the General Church.

Dear Sir:

     There have been considerable improvements in the buildings during the year, and we had the pleasure of entertaining a General meeting of the Ontario Assembly. Parkdale. Ont., Can., June 1st, 1902. EDWARD S. HYATT.

     
     REPORT OF REV. RICHARD H. KEEP.

To the Bishop of the General Church.

Dear Sir:

     In 1880 Mr. John M. Burkert removed from Savannah to Atlanta, where he and his family have maintained an interest in the Church, keeping alive the sacred fire of zeal for the truths of the New Jerusalem. Mr. Burkert established a New Church Circulating Library, and regular meetings for the sake of reading and conversation. Occasionally a minister of Convention has been entertained at Mr. Burkert's home, and a very few lectures have been delivered, but, as a matter of fact, the Church, through its ministry, has made almost no attempt to instruct and otherwise provide for the members in Atlanta.

     Mr. Burkert received the Doctrines in New Orleans over forty years ago, but was baptized by Mr. Brickman in Baltimore in 1869. He passed into the Spiritual World on October 31st, 1900. Two daughters and a son, all baptized into the Church, survive him. Besides Mr. Brickman (an intimate personal friend of Mr. Burkert) the following ministers have visited Atlanta: Rev. Jabez Fox, Rev. Williard Hinkley, Rev. J. E. Smith, and Rev. E. I. Kirk.

     At present there are about twelve men and five women who are in any way interested in the Church, or connected with the new effort to establish a society in Atlanta. All the meetings have been held at the Burkert residence, No. 407 Capitol avenue, which also has been the home of the minister since the beginning of January. On account of being engaged through the week in secular work I have not been able properly to give attention to the needs of the Church, but it is to be hoped that in the near future I shall be able to devote myself entirely to the development of the society. Atlanta, Ga., June 1st, 1902. RICHARD H. KEEP.

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     REPORT OF REV. DAVID H. KLEIN.

To the Bishop of the General Church.

Dear Sir:

     Last July I received a unanimous call to become minister of the Pomeroy and Middleport Society of the New Jerusalem, which I accepted. I began my work very early in August and have conducted worship every Sunday, save one, since then. The attendance has been good, there being an average of thirty-eight persons present, as against twenty-five reported for last year. Sunday School has been held regularly and three new pupils have been added, the average attendance being thirteen. Some of the children drive in from the country every Sunday, but for about five months in the year the inclement weather and bad roads prevented their coming. The attendance at the Sunday evening Doctrinal Class has averaged eighteen.

     The social life of the Society was quite active during the first six months of my stay, and I sought to encourage this as much as possible, as a distinctive New Church social life is especially necessary in a town like Middleport, where conditions make it necessary for individuals to come in contact with the Old Church more than in large cities. A number of general socials were held, and a feast of charity on Swedenborg's birthday was especially enjoyable. During the past three months sickness has interfered much with the social life.

     When the weather has made it possible I have spent considerable time in visiting and ministering to the wants of New Church people in the county who cannot attend Church regularly if at all. I have sought also to bring about a better feeling among those who have entertained prejudices against the Academy, and some progress has been made in this respect, so that we have had occasional visits from them at Church.

     Four funeral sermons have been preached; two for members of the Society, one for an isolated receiver, and one for a man not a member of the Church. On one of these occasions, at Cheshire, I preached to a congregation of over four hundred people, who knew little or nothing about the New Church. Report has it that nearly all were interested in the presentation of New Church truth concerning the reality of the future life, but not any seem to have been led to make further inquiry regarding the Church.

     In October I visited the Pittsburg District Assembly of the General Church, and on the 27th was ordained into the second or pastoral degree of the priesthood.

     Since then I have twice administered the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper in Middleport. I have also baptized an infant.

     In May last I visited the circle of receivers at Erie. Pa., in the effort to carry out a use suggested at the last Pittsburg District Assembly--that of providing in part for the wants of isolated receivers. Five days were profitably spent in visits, meetings and social gatherings.

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     I beg to acknowledge my indebtedness to Miss Frances McQuigg and Miss Lucy Grant for their patient and earnest work in the Sunday School. Very sincerely, Middleport, Ohio, June, 1902.
DAVID H. KLEIN.

     REPORT OF REV. C. TH. ODHNER.

To the Bishop of the General Church.

Dear Sir:

     During the past Year I have continued in my work as professor of Theology and of History in the Theological School and the College of the Academy of the New Church. Since July, 1901, I have also been editor-in-chief of the organ of the General Church, New Church Life, with the Rev. Alfred Acton as assistant editor. My time being fully occupied with these duties, I have had but little time for general priestly work in the Church, beyond preaching a few times in Baltimore, Philadelphia and Bryn Athyn. I have officiated at one wedding, and have baptized two infants.
Bryn Athyn, Pa., June, 1902. C. TH. ODHNER.

     REPORT OF REV. N. D. PENDLETON.

To the Bishop of the General Church.

Dear Sir:

     The past year's work of the Immanuel Church has been encouraging. This is especially true of the Chicago branch. In consequence, the city congregation has been given a local council to take charge of its affairs. This step is in the direction of independence, which some day will doubtless to complete.

     The removal of one of our families to Pittsburg has occasioned regret. But there is no sign of discouragement. All feel the importance of our work and are confident that it will be prospered in the future as in the past. Sincerely, Glenview, Ill., June 1st, 1902. N. D. PENDLETON.

     REPORT OF REV. ENOCH S. PRICE.

To the Bishop of the General Church.

Dear Sir:

     I have done no ministerial work during the year 1901-1902, With the exception of assisting at the opening worship of the Academy Schools, and one visit to Allentown, when I administered the Holy Supper to eight communicants. This visit was on April 20th. Bryn Athyn, Pa., June, 1902.
ENOCH S. PRICE.

441




     REPORT OF REV. GEORGE G STARKEY.

To the Bishop of the General Church.

Dear Sir:

     Last June I accepted the position of "Secretary to the Bishop," and accordingly resigned my position as editor of "New Church Life," the July number being the last brought out under my sole direction. As secretary of the Council of the Clergy,--to which position I was appointed on June 26th,--I assisted in bringing out the August number of the "Life," containing the Journal of the Joint Councils meetings, so that it was not until August that I took up my new duties.

     The larger part of my work has been in connection with the preparation of the projected Liturgy, and particularly in the work of revising hymns. Similar work has been done for a projected hymnal for the young. In addition I have also edited for publication some of the articles on subjects in New Church Science written by Miss Lillian Beekman, and others written by Mr. Alfred H. Stroh. On request, with your consent, I agreed to act as "resident editor" for The New Philosophy, this work being along lines with which our Church is distinctly in sympathy and not a little identified, through the labors of some of our members. I have also assisted Mr. Alfred Stroh with his revision of the English version of The Worship and Love of God, but only in Part I, and for not quite the whole of that.

     During the school year I have enjoyed some highly-valued opportunities for attending lectures in the College, and a number of sessions of the Theological Class under your instruction, at times when my regular duties did not prevent. Respectfully submitted, GEO. G. STARKEY, Bryn Athyn, Pa., June 20th, 1902.

     REPORT OF REV. ERNEST J. STEBBING.

To the Bishop of the General Church.

Dear Sir:

     My time has been wholly occupied with performing the duties of Head Master of the School of the Carmel Church. Since my last report a higher grade of instruction, intended to cover the Intermediate Course in Bryn Athyn, has been attempted, and it is hoped that the School may cover this course in the future.

     
I have preached for the Pastor on several occasions and once or twice in Glen View, last Summer. Respectfully submitted, ERNEST J. STEBBING. Berlin, Ont., June, 1902.

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     REPORT OF REV. HOMER SYNNESTVEDT.

To the Bishop of the General Church.

Dear Sir:

     I made three trips to Baltimore, Md., as Secretary of the Philadelphia District Assembly, and one to Scranton, Pa., administering the Holy Supper each time.

     This spring I made a trip to Renovo in the same capacity, administering the Holy Supper to Mr. and Mrs. Emil Gunther, at Harrisburg, Pa., and to about twelve communicants at Renovo, Pa.

     As Pastor of the Bryn Athyn Society I have carried on the management of the local school, the regular worship, the social and doctrinal classes, and the social life as recorded herewith, besides Ladies' Meetings, and a variety of extra lessons, lectures and discussions, mostly in connection with the Civic and Social Club.

     During the rear I have conducted one funeral service, at Wellesley, Canada, and preached once at Berlin, Canada. HOMER SYNNESTVEDT. Bryn Athyn, Pa., June 10th, 1902.

     REPORT OF REV. FRED. WAELCHLI.

To the Bishop of the General Church.

Dear Sir:

     Services have been held on every Sunday during the past year, and also at Christmas and on Thanksgiving day. On Sunday, August 11th, the Rev. Homer Synnestvedt occupied the pulpit. The Rev. E. J. Stebbing conducted services six times, and assisted on two other occasions.

     At the General Doctrinal Class the study of the New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Doctrine has been continued. The class is preceded by the weekly supper and followed by singing practice.

     The Young People's Doctrinal Class has been divided into a class for the young men and a class for the young ladies, each reading Conjugial Love.

     Men's Meetings and Ladies' Meetings are held once each month. At both, the teachings concerning Spheres are being considered.

     An account of the school-work will be given in the head-master's report.

     During January, March and April, I conducted a Special School for the religious instruction of young people from families of isolated receivers. Five pupils attended, and received three hours' instruction daily. If possible, this School will become a permanent feature of our work, as it
promises to perform an important use.

     During the year I visited isolated members in Ontario and conducted services, as follows:

     Twice at Clinton.--Attendance, 22 and 26.

     Twice at Milverton.--Attendance, 21 and 18.

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     Once at Wellesley.--Attendance, 20.
     Respectfully submitted, F. E. WAELCHLI. Berlin, Ont., Can., June, 1902.

     REPORT OF CANDIDATE WILLIAM B. CALDWELL.

To the Bishop of the General Church.

Dear Sir:

     During the summer of last year (1901) I preached for the Pittsburg Society in the absence of Rev. Mr. frown, and this year officiated once in Philadelphia, once in Allentown, and twice in Bryn Athyn, at the request of the pastors of those Societies. The balance of my time since last report has been devoted to the prosecution of my studies in the Theological School of the Academy of the New Church, and on June 13th I received my degree of Bachelor of Theology from that Corporation. Yours truly, W. B. CALDWELL. Bryn Athyn, Pa., June, 1902.

     REPORT OF CANDIDATE ALFRED H. STROH.

To the Bishop of the General Church.

Dear Sir:

     During the summer of 1901 I was invited to preach to the Circle of members and friends of the General Church in Baltimore, Md. Services were held regularly and a brief general statement of conditions in Baltimore may be found in New Church Life for November, 1901, p. 691. After the summer's work was over I was invited to continue preaching once a month, which was done regularly until June, 1902; sometimes Rev. Homer Synnestvedt preached instead of myself. Much progress, both internal and external, has been made in Baltimore. There are now 14 members of the General Church in Baltimore, which is due to the strong and faithful teachings of the Rev. F. E. Waelchli. A Sunday School and a Ladies' Aid Society have been organized and very recently the members of the General Church in Baltimore were received as a congregation of the General Church. Further information may be found in the Statistical Report.

     I have also preached once at Bryn Athyn and once at Philadelphia.

     During the school-year, 1901-2, I continued my studies at the Theological School of the Academy of the New Church and graduated therefrom on June 13th, 1902.

     Today I sail for England and Sweden to carry on an investigation of Swedenborg's unpublished manuscripts.

     Hoping that the meeting at Berlin will be blessed with rich results, I remain, yours sincerely, ALFRED H. STROH. Bryn Athyn, Pa., June 14th, 1902.

     After hearing the reports the Council adjourned.

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PUBLIC MEETING.

TUESDAY EVENING.

     The Council assembled in public session at about 8 p. m. The meeting was opened with worship by Bishop Pendleton, who afterward delivered the following Address:

     THE UNITY OF THE CHURCH.

     THERE are three heavens, and innumerable societies in each, yet heaven is one before the Lord. No one society is the same as another, nor can ever be to all eternity. As the societies are innumerable, so is the variety indefinite: but the variety is not diversity, nor the unity sameness or identity. (C. L. 324.)

     The Church on earth is to be like the Church in Heaven, since that which makes Heaven also makes the Church, and the Church is the Lord's Heaven upon the earth. The Church is to take on many forms in the activities of use, but the varieties are not to be diversities nor the unity sameness; the human body, composed of various organs, no one organ the same as another, is still one body, under the government of one soul; or, as the tabernacle, composed of various parts, each distinct in form and use, yet each part so joined with every other that it was one habitation. (Exodus xxvi, 6.)

     The unity of heaven, and a unity like that in heaven, exists when there is harmony among many consociated together, a harmony which arises when those who constitute the form are spiritually conjoined by love. The love conjoining is love to the Lord, which is the universal bond; from this universal bond there arises a subordinate universal bond, which is mutual love, or charity. (A. C. 9613.)

     In heaven, and in every form that represents the heavenly form, "every one (unum) is formed from the harmonic consensus of many; and it is such a one as is this consensus" (H. H. 405). For, "an absolute one can never subsist, but a harmonic one" (A. C. 457See also 3241, 4263, 8003; H. N. 57; S. D. 359, 360). And, "no angel or spirit can have any life unless he be in some society, and thus in the harmony of many, a society being nothing but the harmony of many; for there is not given the life of any one dissociated from the life of others" (A. C. 687).

445




     Unity exists when the parts are in harmony with the whole and with each other. This harmony is unanimity, which is the unanimous conspiring of the parts from a common end, in a common love, to a common use. The word "unanimity" signifies breathing together; in a large view it signifies one breath, one spirit, one soul, one thought, one affection, one love. Where this condition exists among a number, there is unity; that is, there is unity where there is the harmony that arises from the unanimity of all the parts which compose the form. We read that "in heaven each society consists of many who from harmony and unanimity constitute as it were one person" (A. C. 684); and that "in the other life there must be concord and unanimity of all, that they may be one, as all and single things in man (A. C. 5182). For, "the angels cannot live together in beatitude unless they are such that they speak and act together," since "beatitude consists in unanimity and harmony" (S. D. 289). And we are taught that the very quality itself of the New Heaven is unanimity, because this heaven is formed of those who in the world had lived the life of faith and charity--not the life of faith alone, nor of charity alone, but the life of faith and charity together (H. D. 2).

     Revelation teaches, therefore,-and the teaching may be abundantly illustrated by observation and experience,--that there is no unity without unanimity; and that the unity which arises from any other source than from unanimity is but an outward appearance, which only endures for a time and then passes away. The appearance of unanimity may be for a time forced upon bodies of men, but revelation teaches that there is no unanimity and thus no unity--whatever the appearance may be--which does not have its origin and source, its spirit and life, its bond and cohesion, in love to the Lord and in the mutual love which flows from love to the Lord.

     Hence we read that "the unanimity which comes from the love of society, and this love from the love of God Messiah, forms Heaven" (S. D. 3291/2); and that in Heaven "the universal bond is the Lord, thus love from Him, and thence love to Him; and that the singular bonds thence are of mutual love or charity toward the neighbor" (A. C. 9613); and "unanimity is given only in good, that is, in love to the Lord, and in charity toward the neighbor; for love conjoins all (A. C. 4837).

446


And further that the essential itself of the Church to be acknowledged is love to the Lord and charity toward the neighbor; and these two acknowledgments must not only be in thought, but in life (A. C. 2982). These are in fact the two great commandments, upon which hang all the law and the prophets.

     Concerning mutual love as the ground of unanimity we read that "the heavenly societies are a one, and this solely through mutual love from the Lord" (A. C. 1316); and that "mutual love is the firmament of heaven, for in it heaven itself and all its consociation and unanimity subsists and consists; for whatever destroys unanimity in the other life is contrary to the order of heaven itself, thus it conspires to the destruction of the whole" (A. C. 2027).

     Unanimity may exist even "here there is dissent or disagreement in matters of doctrine and faith; for we read that "There is one doctrine when all are in mutual love or charity; mutual love and charity make them one, although they are various" (A. C. 1285) Again: "Dissent in the doctrinals of faith does not prevent the Church from being one, if only there is unanimity in willing well and doing Well" (A. C. 3451). The reason there is still unanimity not because if the Church is one in lope to the Lord and in charity it is really one in doctrine, though it does not so appear,--which may be seen from the following example given in the Arcana, n. 3451: "If any one acknowledges as a doctrinal that charity is from faith, and lives in charity toward the neighbor, then indeed he is not in truth as to life, consequently the Church is in him, or the kingdom of the Lord." The teaching is thus illustrated that "there is one doctrine when all are in mutual love or charity," even when there is variety in the understanding of doctrine, and even when views are held that are in themselves fallacious and false; for the truth is implanted in the love itself, even though it be not as yet in the understanding.

     The understanding here meant is the thought from the memory, not the thought of the heart. The thought of the heart of him who is in charity is the Perceptive thought, the thought of the internal will, which is as yet obscurely in the understanding, and is thus what may be called unconscious thought.

447


But thought from things in the memory is conscious thought, and when man speaks from it he often speaks at variance with the common good with which he is at one in his internal man, and thus at variance with those who are distinctly in that good. But the perceptive or unconscious thought is to become conscious, and will become so when the judgment takes place. Then the man who is in good will think with those who are in a similar good; for the angelic choirs are not only in a common love, but they think together and even speak together as one man. The Revelator once heard many thousands together praising God Messiah with one voice, in which the unanimity of heaven was made manifest (S. D. 356).

     The importance of a common thought from a common love is made clear in the Writings, for we read that "from many thinking together, or from the harmony of many, unity (unum) exists" (S. D. 289). This will exist in the unconscious thought if there is mutual love, though not at first in the conscious thought, on account of fallacies and appearances in the memory. But a variance such as this is to be gradually removed, in order that there may be a common conscious thought, with variety indeed, but not with diversity. For we learn that "it is fundamental that the thought and speech be in themselves in concord with every one in a society, otherwise there is perceived something discordant as a grating noise, which strikes the minds of others for everything discordant is disuniting, and is something impure that is to be rejected" (A. C. 5182). This is true in heaven and will become true in the Church in the degree that a mutual charity grows, and from this a mutual longing for unity of thought and purpose.

     The reason why there is unanimity when there is charity is because a number who are in charity together, or in mutual love, are then led by the Lord as one man. There is no other possible human condition in which many men together can be led by the Lord as one man than that in which men are joined together in the bonds of mutual love; for men are not then led by a common love of dominion or a common love of the world, a common ambition, a common jealousy, a common prejudice, a common desire of worldly advantage, but by a common love of the common good, which is the spiritual good of the Church and of mankind; then and then only call the Lord lead a number of men together as one.

448


The Lord leads the entire heaven as one man, the proprium of the angels being removed (A. C. 9613; A. E. 1209), and so He will lead the Church on earth whenever the time comes that mutual love shall reign. The Church so led will be secure when the hells assault, and such a Church will endure forever.

     We are taught that the New Church, being the crown of all the churches, is to endure forever; that it will at first be confined to a few, but will afterward increase among many; that its natural increase will he according to its spiritual growth, from which it follows that there must be spiritual growth with a few before there will he increase with many; and that the internal or spiritual upbuilding while the Church is with a few is the first and supreme use of the Church. The internal growth of the Church will be growth in the two fundamentals, love to the Lord and love to the neighbor, thus a growth in the unity and unanimity of the Church. When there is unanimity with a few all increase in numbers will and to and strengthen the unanimity; and the unanimity of the Church will increasingly draw to it those who are ready to enter interiorly into the established unanimity of the whole. It is clear, therefore, that unanimity in the Church, a unanimity that is spiritual and not merely natural, is first to be desired, and after this, increase in numbers, so that the unanimity may grow and expand and he strengthened by the added force and sphere of many.

     "Perfection in the heavens increases according to plurality, because all there have one end, and all unanimously look to that end, which is the common good.... The unanimity and concord of many produce perfection" (H. H. 418). "When mutual love from the love of the Lord is amongst all and in all, then all can be disposed into a heavenly form, which is such that many are one, and the more numerous they are the more strongly they are one (A. C. 9613). "Those who are in heaven are more blessed and happy in proportion as more come into it, because the unanimity is thence made stronger" (A. C. 2130).

     It is important that this truth be impressed upon the minds of our members, upon the internal heart of the Church; for in it is involved growth and perpetuation, and thus the very existence of the Church. This truth teaches us that all growth is the result of a spiritual unity from a spiritual unanimity in love to the Lord and love to the neighbor; that increase in numbers from this cause, and from no other, is genuine; that increase from this cause is to be looked for and desired, but from no other cause whatsoever; that growth or increase in numbers from any other cause is but ephemeral, will soon pass away, lacking the essential principle of increase; that the desire for increase from any other cause is to be shunned and avoided, for other causes have their rise in love of dominion or love of the world, in which there can be no unanimity of heart and soul, because the essential principles of heavenly spontaneity and freedom are lacking.

449


In the unanimity of heaven there is the highest freedom, and this is the freedom that is to be in the New Church, a plant of heavenly origin. As unanimity grows and is strengthened by a genuine increase of numbers, so with freedom. Union with a greater number of those who are ready to enter into the unanimous gyre of the Church, not only establishes the freedom that already exists, but brings greater freedom. An addition to the numbers of the Church which does not strengthen the unanimity and enlarge the freedom, but which limits it, is to be avoided. But increase according to the growth of unanimity, which expands and enlarges and strengthens the unanimity and freedom which already exist, is to be desired above all things. On the other hand, the increase which is the mere semblance of increase, lacking the genuine spiritual quality of increase, which is not the result of internal growth, of internal homogeneity,--is a mere aggregation of numbers, the gathering of a heterogeneous mass, that hinders growth and causes confusion, a confusion of tongues. Let us ever remember that the real growth of the New Church is to resemble the growth of the heavenly societies, beginning with a few and gradually increasing with many according to the increase of unanimity, according to growth in love to the Lord and love to the neighbor, according to the growth of a mutual charity, and a mutual love of truth for its own sake.

     Unanimity is unanimity in love, not natural love, but spiritual love, which as has been already shown is love to the Lord and mutual love; in this and from this there is a common end, a common thought, a common understanding of fundamentals, a common intuition of doctrine, a common light in the mind, a common recognition of variety and freedom in application, a common patience, a mutual self-control, and a common or mutual toleration.

450




     All government in the Church, all administration, all legislation, all teaching, must look to the establishment and preservation of unanimity; not a unanimity brought about by external compulsion and repression, but the unanimity which is the outgrowth of spiritual charity or mutual love; that is, all the activities of the Church must look to the kindling and fostering of mutual love, and providing the means for its ultimate manifestation, removing the obstacles that hinder its growth and development;--all these will look to unanimous action and provide for it. Given love to the Lord and mutual love, given a common end, a common purpose and thought, given agreement in the fundamentals of doctrine, then there must also be unanimity in action; and such unanimity must be provided for and preserved by all the means available.

     It is not a new idea with us that unanimity in action is of supreme importance in the work of the Church. Twenty-five years ago the leader of the Academy announced it as a ruling principle of Church activity and life, that the intelligent and hearty cooperation, not merely of a part, but of the whole, is necessary in a given use; that this must be sought for and obtained by all means at our disposal; that delay or postponement of a proposed action is better than action by a part or a majority with the minority in doubt or opposed; that as it is in the individual man so with the corporate man,--a doubt is an indication of Providence that we are to wait in order that unanimity, this precious jewel of the Church, may be preserved; that we can at least be unanimous in waiting until the doubts and obscurities are removed from the minds of all who are sincere and have the good of the Church at heart. It was also pointed out that as no truth is absolute in human application, so there is limitation in the application of this truth; that it is sometimes necessary for a part to act without waiting for the whole. In a heavenly society every action is unanimous, every act is an act of the whole and never of a part, just as it is in the human body. So it is to be in the Church on earth. Unanimity in action is, therefore, a seed of heavenly planting, to be cultivated, to be looked to, desired and prayed for, with all our heart and soul,--for which we are to labor, and for which we are to--wait.

451




     In the Annual Address before our General Assembly, delivered in this place, June 30th, 1899, it was set forth as a principle of the Academy that-

     Unanimity is a law inscribed upon the life of heaven, and ought to be inscribed upon the life of the Church. Important action should not be taken without essential unanimity. A doubt gives occasion for delay, that there may be further time for consideration and reflection, in order to reach a common understanding.

     It was also said that--

     Unanimity as a law of heaven cannot be enforced; but where it exists it can be preserved. It is assumed that there is unanimity in that which is fundamental; it is the duty of those who lead to see that this unanimity be not violated, but that it be protected and fostered. A doubt may be considered as an indication of Providence that the time is not yet ripe for a given action; that there is need for further thought and reflection, in order to reach a more rational judgment. To look to unanimous action, and to provide for it even by delay, does not mean that we are merely to substitute a unanimous vote for a majority vote in the decision of questions; if this were all, there would be but little gain. The weighty reasons for delay, looking to unanimity, are internal rather than external; these are, in sum, that the habit may be formed in the body of thinking together from a common affection. This is a ruling principle in the choirs of heaven.

     It would appear that the time has come to re-affirm this fundamental law, and to see and acknowledge it more clearly and more fully as the very life-principle of the Church, as it is of heaven. That it has not become fully operative in the Church as it is operative in heaven serves to show that spiritual life, the life of faith and charity, is a matter of slow growth, and that unanimity, before mutual love reigns, is but the appearance of it, brought about by persuasion, or some form of external repression. The unanimity which comes from compulsion is perhaps better than no unanimity, but it is not the unanimity of heaven, and but prolongs the time of the inevitable judgment: The judgment may be postponed, but the time will come when it will be sure and swift, and the unanimity that has been established by repressive efforts will be scattered to the winds.

     It is not contended that in this world, where conditions are so mixed, the appearance of unanimity established by repression, the repression of a minority by a majority vote, or by the decision of a single man clothed with the responsibility of action,--it is not contended that such a unanimity may not at times be necessary and even salutary; but such a method of obtaining unanimity should not be the rule of action, but rather the exception, made use of only to meet an emergency.

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The rule should be the other way. It is important for us to learn that in the progress and advancement of the Church there is no element of hurry. There is no trace of hurry in the operations of Providence, which presents the Divine model for our guidance. The necessity for decisive action sometimes forces itself upon us; it is sometimes necessary to act in an important matter without waiting for others; but this is not the rule, it is the exception. In very many cases more is gained by delay than by action. No human opinion is absolute, and the doubt of a sincere mind may present the best of reasons to revise our estimates, and will indeed mostly result in a larger and broader view of the needs of the Church. It is better that some uses should apparently suffer than that hurt should be done to the spiritual good of the Church, to its mutual love, its bond of union, its state of unanimity, and thus to the internal upbuilding of the Church.

     We read that there is unanimity in the new heaven, and it is therefore plain that there is to be unanimity in the New Church on the earth; for the men of the Church are to be consociated in spirit with the angels of that heaven, by whom they will be inspired with mutual love; and where mutual love is, there is an inevitable conatus to union. The men in whom the Church is,--in whom mutual love which makes the Church is,--will be inspired with a desire for union with the good in the other world, with angels and good spirits, and as a necessary consequence will be inspired with a desire for a spiritual consociation With each other. This is the root and principle of all organization on the earth, and renders organization a necessity; even as the teaching is, "There is never given the life of any one dissociated from the life of others" (A. C. 687).

     Heaven is one man, and so the New Church throughout the earth ought to be as one man before the Lord. What ought to be, will he; if it is not here in our time, it will be in the time of our children, if they improve upon the inheritance which they are to receive. What ought to be, is, in heaven, and will be on earth, when men permit it to be, when men cease to oppose and hinder.

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     "The Lord's kingdom on earth consists of all who are in good, who, although scattered over the whole earth, are still one" (A. C. 2853). Who the good are on earth, and where they are, the Lord alone knows, and it is not of the Divine Wisdom that we should know so long as we are on this side of the line that divides the other world from this. We are not able to mark the whereabouts of the invisible and universal Church, or know who its members are; men will never know, but the angels know, for the Lord reveals it unto them. But this we do know, that the invisible Church should emulate the invisible, that its members, even though they be "scattered over the whole earth, are still one." This may not be said now, but it will-be said when the Church approaches its glory and appointed station among men.

     If the invisible Church is to be one before the Lord, it is one now, and neither time nor space can alter this fact. The actual becoming one in the outward appearance will be but removing the obstacles and hindrances to unity. This will take time, per- haps more than one generation, to accomplish; but that it will come is as sure as it is certain that the New Church itself will be established. It will come when there is a greater wisdom in the Church than is perhaps possible in our time.

     If this thing is true there need be no hurry nor anxiety about external unity. If it is seen to be true, that is something; and the end is nearly accomplished if it is acknowledged and loved because it is true. All that is essentially good, and all that is essentially true in this world becomes an accomplished fact in the other. Internal unity exists with all who are in good, with all who love the good of the Lord's Kingdom more than their own good. This internal unity will manifest itself in the other world. External unity therefore is not obtained by a vote, by passing a resolution in an assembly of men, however useful this may be; but it is a growth, an ultimation, a gradual manifestation, an involuntary and spontaneous expression of the internal unity which already exists. The essentials of unity must exist prior to the form, or the form is a body without a soul. The essential must itself take on the form, which is its own form.

     That the New Church is one before the Lord will be acknowledged by every sane and rational mind; and it is also plain that if it is essentially one it will strive to become actually one, that it will look to and expect a full unity, endeavoring to remove the obstacles that prevent it.

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And it ought to be equally clear that the prime obstacles to unity are not matters of faith and opinion, of sentiment and public confession, but are things deeply rooted in the habits and practices of life. And it will also be clear to a wise understanding, that there is no unity which is unity that does not acknowledge and recognize variety in faith and practice. If these things can be made clear, then we are indeed already on the road to unity.

     Mutual love is the firmament of heaven; it is the strength of heaven, its support, its bond of union; it holds heaven together; it makes heaven as one man and causes it to be led as one by the Lord. It is really love to the Lord, which descending and spreading throughout the heavens holds all together, and unites them as with a common bond. Those who have in them love to the Lord, of necessity love each other mutually; there is no mutual love that is not from this source.

     If mutual love flowing from love to the Lord is the firmament of heaven, so it is the firmament of the Church. There must be in the Church love to the Lord and mutual love from it, or there is as yet no Church. If this is what makes the Church, and the Church has it not as pet, then it is above all things to be desired, above all things to be sought after, because it is above all things needed. There is then a tremendous responsibility laid upon the Church as a body of men, and upon the individual; and woe to the body or to the individual that does not seek this thing. For if it be otherwise the Church will depart and find an abode elsewhere. But in order to seek this thing which is so desirable, it must be known what it is, it must be known how it begins. This knowledge is not far to seek. It is in the Ten Commandments, it is in the Two Great Commandments, it is in the letter of the Word everywhere, it shines on every page of the Writings, it is the burden of all Divine Revelation, it is found even though obscurely wherever religion has a foothold among men. It is to love God, and also to love the neighbor because God is loped. Upon these two hang all the law and the prophets, the whole Word of God; these two are the soul and life of heaven; the Church is the Church because of them; they are the two witnesses that stand before the God of all the earth, which if any man hurt them the plagues that are written in the Book shall be visited upon him.

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     But these two must enter the understanding. This is the way they begin. The New Church is to enter the mysteries of faith by the understanding, that is, the mysteries of faith enter the man of the New Church by the understanding. But they do not stop there I the understanding is the door into the sheepfold.

     In the New Church love to the Lord begins with a true idea of Him in His Second Coming, in the acknowledgment of Him in His Coming, in seeing Him as He appears in His Word, and afterward in loving Him as He is seen there, which is by doing the things which He commands in His Word now laid open. Then mutual love grows and it never grows until then. For charity or mutual love is from the Lord, it is the Lord in man. When the neighbor is loved with the love that is in heaven it is the Lord in the neighbor that is loved. "If ye have done it unto one of the least of these, My brethren, ye have done it unto Me."

     If there is to be mutual love where it is not as yet, there must be mutual effort, a mutual endeavor to do the commandments of God, to do the things which lead to love and establish it in the Church as its bond of union. There must be mutual self-restraint, a mutual self-compulsion, a mutual patience, a mutual forbearance, a mutual toleration. To state it briefly, love to the Lord and mutual love begin in a common acknowledgment of fundamentals, and in a mutual toleration. This when rightly understood covers every principle that leads to and provides for the unity of the Church; for in it is the beginning of all harmony and unanimity.

     A common acknowledgment in the Church, of the fundamentals of Divine Revelation, has in it the germ of a common love to the Lord, and a mutual toleration has in it the germ of a common mutual love. If the Lord is not yet loved above all things, He may at least be acknowledged in His Coming; and if mutual love does not yet reign, there may at least be the beginning of patience and toleration.

     Love is conjunction. There is no such thing as love in one person alone that does not proceed outside of itself into another, meeting a reciprocal in him. Love is mutual, and the things which prepare the way for it must be mutual. There must be a mutual shunning of the things which oppose it, and a mutual seeking of the things which lead to and establish it.

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Without this there is no love, because there is nothing mutual.

     Mutual love begins with toleration,--it begins with a mutual toleration. Let us note carefully the emphasis contained in the word "mutual." Let us write the word "mutual" in letters of light. There must be mutual toleration. Toleration is defined to be the "allowance of that which is not wholly approved" (Webster). It is plain that if toleration is to exist as a principle of civil, moral or spiritual life, it must be mutual. Toleration on the part of one and not on the part of another is a mere passive condition, and is not a condition of human freedom. Toleration must be active, and in order to be active it must be mutual, that the gift of human freedom may be preserved. There must be a mutual allowance of that which is not wholly approved. Understood and applied rightly there is not only no loss in this, but much of gain to all concerned; and toleration becomes a condition in which, and in which only, freedom and charity may take root and grow.

     In toleration there is not only charity, but mercy. What would be lot of sinful man were it not for the Divine toleration? No man could be saved; for there would be no freedom by which man could be led to heaven. The Divine toleration is called in the Writings the permission of evil. Toleration is thus Divine in its origin; and being divine it is also angelic, and in it is found the very human itself; without it neither society nor the Church can exist,--that is, without mutual toleration. Society may indeed exist for a time by a compulsive toleration, and there is much of this kind of toleration now in the world. But the Church as a spiritual state in the world cannot exist and flourish without a toleration that is mutual and voluntary.

     Where the Lord permits, the natural man wishes to suppress or destroy. But the spiritual man, having the Divine image and model before him, while he does not will evil in others, nor internally yield to it in any sense, still there is as it were an external yielding as to that which may not be prevented according to order, a yielding in order that freedom may be preserved. This apparent external yielding, while the internal is still firm and unmoved, is what is called accommodation, but it is not compromise, a distinction which must be carefully observed. For compromise, as distinguished from accommodation, has in it an internal yielding to evil,-has in it peril to one's soul; but accommodation is an external yielding without internal approval of that which is contrary to order, or which is not as yet in order.

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The man who does this is himself in order and acting according to the laws of order, and such a yielding not only does not weaken, but the teaching is to be understood that "the more yielding is the form more firmly it stands." (S. D. 241.) In nature the elastic forms are stronger than the hard and rigid forms. The spherical particle of ether yields in the circumference, but is still strong in the centre. The rigid form breaks if it yields, but the elastic form still preserves its integrity and is all the stronger by the pressure.

     The form which thus yields is a form that yields from strength and not from weakness; for a form that is weak at the centre believes that if it yields in the slightest degree, even in the circumference, it will lose all. There is in this a consciousness of weakness; intolerance is an exhibition and confession of internal weakness. It is indeed true that such resistance to evil is better than none at all, for which some this is the only way any internal state can be preserved; and let those who are troubled by intolerance in others beware that they do not become in turn intolerant. Toleration of the intolerant, charity for the uncharitable, is opportunity for the highest of the qualities of the spiritual mind; for it must be clear that toleration to be wroth anything,-to have in it a real spiritual quality, to partake of angelic toleration,-must begin in oneself before it is observed in others,-it must be like that upon the cross which said, "They know not what they do."

     It was said that the New Church throughout the earth ought to be as one man before the Lord. This is true even now, internally and essentially, but not as yet actually. When it will be one internally and externally the Lord alone knows, and He will point out the way when the Church is ready. When it comes it will begin on the basis of a mutual toleration from a common acknowledgment of fundamentals. But if such a unity appears hopeless at the present time, may we look for it in our own body? We have a common acknowledge of fundamentals. The development of the past, in the wonderful workings of Providence, has given us this heritage.

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Along with this has there come a mutual toleration? Let each one answer in his own heart. If we understand and acknowledge these principles we must at least desire and seek for that which they teach. Even as we are told that those who desire the New Church must pray that it may come, so must we pray that the two universal lopes which make the Church may come and reign both within our own body, and in the New Church as a whole; and to pray for these is to pray also for the means by which they may come and be established in the hearts of men. Amen.

     The Bishop announced that the meeting was open for discussion of the Address.

     Mr. N. D. Pendleton said that while all would agree to the important truths presented in the paper, still there might be some difference of opinion as to their bearing upon our relation with those not of our body. He considered the preservation of the peculiar spirit and life of the Academy of great importance. That spirit was composed of two elements: intense loyalty to the Church, based on the acknowledgment of the Lord in His Second Coming in the Writings, and a sphere of fellowship or mutual love which made the body powerful, though small. Discussing the possibility of a third element, that is, a certain appearance of intolerance, he said that if there was such a state it was impermanent and transient. The two first mentioned must be continued by all means in our power; any remnant of the latter may well be discontinued. As to this appearance of intolerance he believed that at the heart of it was a fear lest the sphere of the world should invade and cause us to relax our hold upon the essentials of our faith. It is better to be narrow and religious than "broad" and irreligious. But New Churchmen ought to have no real cause for fear; particularly is this true of those who recognize the Lord as present in the Writings, for this recognition, we are assured, involves the all-conquering doctrine of the future. There are indeed some within the Church who do not see this truth as clearly as we do. But we on our part should admit the use and need of way-stations on the road to Jerusalem. It is for us to show to those, who do not see just as we do, that true spirit of toleration which makes for the essential unity of the Church. At the same time there must be a special bond between those who hold the same doctrine concerning the Lord and the Writings. Some of us may regard with a degree of trepidation a friendly approach between us and those with whom we do not doctrinally agree. As intimated at first, there may be some difference of opinion as to the nature and degree of any such approach. But the speaker thought that in this matter we ought to trust each other not to compromise our mutual position.

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He looked for a gradual growth throughout the Church of the true view of the nature of the Writings. And for one he was convinced that intercourse between New Churchmen was for many reasons highly useful.--Mr. Odhner said that association with those with whom we differ may be a sign of tolerance or it may not; and to be outspoken in regard to truth, or when falsity has been uttered, may or may not be intolerance. But that it is always necessary, when condemning or exposing falsity or evil, that we should speak from love to the neighbor, is sure. He thought that at heart the Academy had been tolerant from the first; but many of us were young in those days, and young people can not as yet be far regenerated, and no doubt some things had been said and done in anger,--from a truth-alone state. But that state of the natural-rational has to be passed through, and we must be tolerant even toward intolerance, especially where it accompanies zeal for the truth. As for Convention, contact with our brethren of the New Church is what we all desire and have always desired, but where the door is closed there is nothing to be done.--Mr. Carswell emphasized the idea that mutual tolerance involves that there must be a reciprocal. Where there is that, we understand what our duty is; but how about those who are in the attitude of enemies? Swedenborg said to an evil spirit who rose from below and approached him,--"Speak from where you are!" that is, "Keep your distance." The exercise of active tolerance to those who are not with us would seem to depend upon how far they desire something of us which we can give them. There must be something of invitation, something reciprocal, to unite us.-Mr. Waelchli said that from the beginning those who had upheld certain principles of the New Church had desired unanimity, but they could not find it in Convention, and that is the principal reason why the new organization had to be established; we longed for a Church in which there would be tolerance,--to form a new body in which this virtue could exist. The Lord had placed upon us of the New Church a great responsibility; in order that we may fulfill the trust we must be unanimous,--we have to build up the Church chiefly within ourselves,--there should often be with us the thought, What is my duty in my relation with my fellow members of the Church? How am I to do my part, my duty before the Lord as a Newchurchman? What things must I avoid. what evils shun, in order that the welfare of the Church may be promoted. Then there will be love to the Lord because He has given us work to do in the Church, and mutual love.--Mr. Starkey, speaking of the indispensableness of unanimity and tolerance for the upbuilding of the Church, said that the tolerance must be more than a theoretical recognition that we have nothing to do with the neighbor's evils in the way of responsibility for their removal, but we must hold fast to that thought in the presence of those evils when they come up to disturb and excite us,--to rouse our own evils. We must tolerate the neighbor's proprium. That is the kind of tolerance which the angels practice, and which when cultivated makes a plane wherein the Lord can insinuate mutual love.--Mr. Odhner emphasized the point that there is a tolerance which comes from strength and a tolerance which comes from weakness.

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He instanced the intolerance which had influenced the organs of Convention to ignore in a remarkable way our doings and the uses which we have performed,--an intolerance arising from fear of the principles which we have adopted, a tribute to their strength and a testimony to the weakness of their own. On the other hand, our organs have taken more notice of them, have shown more interest even than they have taken in each other. To be sure we have criticised freely, but what has been condemned has been principles and not persons.--Mr. Synnestvedt told that he had heard it said by two members of the Convention that our body had more charity for them than they for us, which seems remarkable in the face of our reputation for lack of charity. Yet it has been realized even by their own members that we have been the more broad-minded. True tolerance involves accommodation but does not involve an internal yielding of principles. No tolerance of evils or falses has been advocated by any one, but for persons, and that is the underlying motive and intention in the position of the Address. He hoped to see that go on, and that kind of approach and contact with Convention, or elsewhere where there is invitation. It is our duty; we cannot do otherwise. If there is no communication there is no conjunction, and that kind of cutting ourselves off is not permitted. We do not withhold goodwill, or any kind of co-operation, except as they close the way and make it impossible. If our internal attitude is what it should be, when the Lord opens the way it will go forth into act,--when toleration becomes mutual. In the meantime we will have to continue to tell disagreeable truths when required. The speaker referred to the part of Washington's "Farewell Address" where it bears on party-spirit, prompted apparently by regret and concern at the partisanship which he saw arising in the country and engendering a spirit of quarrelsomeness which he saw endangered the future of the country; thus he was impelled to urge the importance of unanimity. We should cultivate it. The speaker had heard Newchurchmen exult in the fact that the members of the Church did not agree, and say that the unanimity of the Academy was a bad sign,--that they ought to have parties, so that things would be fought out, and so cultivate independence of mind. But that showed failure to grasp the internal character of the Church. On the civil plan there is something in that sort of reasoning, for as things are parties are needed, so that there may be an equilibrium between opposing forces. But this ought not to be in the Church, where such principles as were presented in the Address ought to prevail: the equilibrium there ought not to be one arising from opposition, nor is there a like need for a balance of power.--Mr. Acton illustrated Mr. Odhner's point as to difference in toleration by citing the recent meeting of the Swedenborg Scientific Association, which had been apparently equally delightful to our members and those of Convention who were present: this he contrasted with the general attitude at the meeting of Convention, a few days before, where our members did not on the whole meet with the most manifest cordiality. He added that you cannot label tolerance without knowing what is within it.

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The appearance is that they who are imbued with a true principle are the most intolerant, because they will not compromise it, nor admit that something contrary to it is also true. The angels cannot tolerate even some words, but are offended by their very sound. Some persons are tolerant because they do not see the harm that is in the thing involved. The Lord was intolerant with the Jews as it were because of their evil influence upon the simple. The speaker did not subscribe to the idea of intolerance being in the Academy; he did not know that there had been any unwillingness to approach Convention or to have them approach us. There may have been that appearance because of the great necessity of defending themselves from certain falsities by mingling too closely,--the need of keeping the eyes open all the time lest they should be misled. The more we see the falsity of a position the more intolerant we will appear.--Mr. Hyatt spoke similarly. What we are to cultivate is internal toleration. There are many things on the external plane toward which we are not to show any toleration; if one's wife or children are attacked we do not tolerate it. Toleration or intolerance are both appearances; that is, they may be good or they may be evil. We must strive to be intolerant to our own evils. In regard to our attitude toward Convention the appearance of intolerance may come from humility,--a recognition of our own weakness and toleration of things in Convention which are tendencies in ourselves, but which we nevertheless cannot approve. If we go to them in the confidence that we can do them good we come into danger. Our holding aloof may be done from unselfish principles. As we are, we are in equilibrium, and must beware how we allow our-elves to be drawn in the direction of merely natural life, as when we are attracted to where there is antipathy to the principles of the Church that we believe. We are not good enough to expose ourselves to such influences undiscriminatingly,--we are not angels; the natural part is still strong.-Mr. Pitcairn spoke of the different understandings of the term "tolerance." In the New Church all things are to be made new, and so with this term. As commonly understood, the word means that "you may he right and I may be right." But we take the stand that we have the truth of the Lord, and that everything else is wrong. So that we recognize a tolerance of persons, and even of their evils and falses, but not of the evils and falses considered in themselves.--Mr. Price was inclined to think that the discussion had wandered a good way afield. The Address did not say one word about Convention. The main thing in it was the necessity for toleration among ourselves, who are in agreement on fundamental principles, yet who are in constant danger of intolerance of each other's evils. It is our duty to treat Convention with civility, but the term, as Mr. Pitcairn had said, should not admit any toleration of what is outside the New Church; only me should recognize that we have a whole lot of failings which are not of the New Church.

     After a few more remarks the meeting adjourned.

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JOINT MEETING OF THE Council of the Clergy WITH THE Executive Committee 1902

JOINT MEETING OF THE Council of the Clergy WITH THE Executive Committee       Various       1902

ABSTRACT OF PROCEEDINGS.

     The joint meetings of the Council of the Clergy and the Executive Committee, began on Wednesday morning and ended on Friday afternoon. There were present at these meetings the following members:

     Council of the Clergy: (the same attendance as given on page 429.)

     Executive Committee: Mr. John Pitcairn, Chairman; Mr. C. Hj. Asplundh, Treasurer; Mr. Robert Carswell, Mr. Hugh L. Burnham, and Mr. Richard Roschman.

     WEDNESDAY MORNING, JUNE 25TH.
The meeting was opened with worship, by Bishop Pendleton.

     The Bishop stated that he had not had time to write out a report, but would make a summary statement of the events of the past year and the general condition of the work.

     THE BISHOP'S REPORT.

     (In Abstract.)
     We are to be thankful for another year of peace and rest, in which the uses of the General Church have been progressing and prospering. It was decided in the General Council to hold no meeting of the General Assembly this year.

     The organization of the District Assemblies has gone on. Since the last report the Chicago, Pittsburg and London Assemblies have been organized, making now five in all. It is hoped and expected that each District Assembly will meet annually.

     In September last the Rev. Andrew Czerny went to England and undertook the work in the London and Colchester societies, which he has performed and continues to perform with general satisfaction.

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     The Rev. E. C. Bostock made a very useful visit to England in the spring of this year. While there he organized, in London, a District Assembly of the General Church. He visited both London and Colchester.

     The work on the new Liturgy has continued during the past year. About one hundred hymns have been selected for the book, which are now in the hands of Prof. George Blackman, of Chicago, for musical setting. We are also preparing a Hymnal for the use of our Schools.

     The work on the Liturgy is progressing slowly on account of the press of other work, but this gives time for ripening, and will no doubt be best in the end.

     The indications are that the work of the Orphanage will become more active in the near future.

     The passing into the other world of Mr. Robert M. Glenn has been an important event of the past year. His great services to the Church are remembered and appreciated, and the uses which he performed will remain a monument to his memory.

     The Church is to be congratulated on the progress made in the work of the Academy, especially in its increased facilities for educational work. During the past year the College building has been completed and a new dormitory built.

     On May 8th the congregation of our Body, worshiping in Philadelphia, was recognized as a Society of the General Church, and the Rev. Emil Cronlund was at the same time introduced into the second degree of the priesthood by ordination, and installed as pastor of the new Society.

     The Secretary of the General Church, Mr. Odhner, read his report. (See page 431.)

     The report of the Editors of New Church Life was read by the Editor.

     The Chairman of the Executive Committee reported verbally.

     Mr. Bostock's proposed ordination into the Third Degree of the Priesthood was announced by the Bishop.

     The Bishop said that he had given some thought to the advisability of ordaining another minister into the third degree. One of the uses of this would be to provide for the continuance of that degree in our body. He had consulted the Council of the Clergy on the matter and in the discussion the Council had considered, first, whether it is desirable to take the step, and then, who would be a suitable man to fill the place; and finally, the Rev. E. C. Bostock had been unanimously recommended by the Council for the office. The Bishop explained that this did not involve the selecting of a presiding bishop. In such a case three steps would be involved: 1. Ordination into the third degree of the priesthood of the New Church; 2. Recognition of him in the General Church, in that degree, and, 3. Choice of the one ordained to become head of the body, or of a part of the body,--or of a diocese.

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The first two steps mentioned are determined by the Bishop; the third step is the choosing by the body or by a diocese. The Bishop had thought it wise to consult the Council as to the man whom they thought best fitted to be chosen for that degree, and the unanimous voice had been for Mr. Bostock. Mr. Bostock was to be recognized as being in the third degree of the priesthood within the General Church, but no further steps were to be taken at present in the direction of placing him over a diocese. The Bishop explained the procedure in selecting the head of the General Church: the Council would select a head, and report to the General Assembly, which would then recognize and accept the one selected, if favorably inclined, and he then would be the head of the Church; or, in the case of a diocese, that body would recognize and accept, or otherwise. He further said that only the first two steps were now necessary, and that Mr. Bostock would be ordained at some convenient time in the near future. Later he might be asked to assist the presiding bishop, or he asked to preside over a diocese, but that belonged to the future; at present it is enough simply to provide for the succession in the episcopal office. This matter was brought up in the Joint Council, he said, in order that any member of the Executive Committee might express any view, or any objections.

     Mr. Pitcairn said that the members of the Executive Committee here present had already heard of the action taken, and all regarded it with great satisfaction. There had been solicitude with some over the fact that there was but one bishop in our body. He was pleased with the statement made to the effect that the appointment of a new bishop does not necessarily involve hip succession to the office of presiding bishop.

     The Bishop said that the last point ought to be made very clear to all, for it left the Church in greater freedom. And he added that the appointment of a new bishop appears to put the body of the Church In a greater state of security.-At the suggestion of Mr. Acton an extract from the record of the proceedings of the Council of the day before touching the point made by Mr. Pitcairn was read (see page 43). Mr. Pitcairn added that the Church has freedom to accept its bishop, as a society has freedom to choose its pastor.

     The Report of the Editors of New Church Life was taken up for discussion. It was largely devoted to setting forth the difficulties of the editors under their manifold duties, and the necessity for co-operation, if they are to remain in charge.

     The Bishop expressed his hearty appreciation of the manner in which the magazine had been conducted; the work gave evidence of earnestness, energy and faithful application, and it ought to be sustained by the members of the Clergy and of the Church in general. As ministers we had not done all that we might.In the ensuing discussion it was shown that if ten of the ministers would contribute 15,000 words each to the Life during the year the editors would not then have too much to do, as at present. Ways and mean for further provision for giving the needful representative character and variety to the magazine were discussed, and besides the usual suggestion of the need for short articles and extracts from sermons, it was pointed out that laymen might perform an important service by suggesting to the Life subjects which had interested them in their reading or conversation, and which might be profitably discussed.

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The difficulty in securing sermons was again mentioned.---The Editor's invitation of criticism, especially of the editorial and review department, elicited general commendation of the fearless and vigorous attitude assumed, and various expressions of the need of co-operation with the editors. It was the general sentiment that the editors should not slacken their vigorous policy in the face of the present clear issue and important crisis, while at the same time keeping to principle and free from personality, as had been their constant aim.--The Editor mentioned that in the case of important articles the Bishop had usually been consulted.--In conclusion The Bishop impressed upon the ministers the importance of upholding the present editors by contributing articles and sermons, as he held it most important that they remain in charge of the Life.

     Mr. Doering offered the following resolution, which was adopted by a rising vote:

     Whereas, since the last meeting of the Councils of the General Church of the New Jerusalem the Lord in His infinite Providence has removed to His spiritual kingdom our beloved brother, Robert M. Glenn.

     Resolved, that the Councils of the General Church, in joint meeting assembled, hereby place on record their high appreciation of the services performed by Mr. Glenn as a member of the Executive Committee and of the General Council, as well as formerly in the Council of the Laity of the General Church of the Advent, and of the General Church of Pennsylvania, and of the Pennsylvania Association."*
     * Mr. Glenn was also a member of the Council of the Academy of the New Church, and Treasurer and finally President of that body.--SEC'Y.

     After deciding to continue the deliberations of the Joint Meetings the following day, adjournment was made until the afternoon.
PUBLIC MEETING 1902

PUBLIC MEETING       Various       1902

     WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON, JUNE 25TH.

     The Joint Councils met at 3 o'clock p. m., Bishop Pendleton in the chair. The Treasurer read his report.

     On remarks being called for, Mr. Robert Carswell complimented the treasurer on the care with which the accounts were kept.-

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Mr. Synnestvedt referred to the circular sent out last winter by the Treasurer, as being a "straightforward, manly statement of the needs of the Church," and as having had a good effect. The speaker said that no Church use needs more careful attention and nourishing than this looking after the financial supplies,--it is the ultimate, on which all the other things rest. Mr. Glenn had done a great use in bringing about a realization of the importance of regular contributions, no matter how small,--that it was not so much the amount as the steady giving of the best one could afford. He thought that if the people all realized the powerful effect of regular contributions there would be greater ease in meeting the demands made by the uses.--The Bishop spoke very appreciatively of the work of the Treasurer, and said if there were no further remarks the Report would be received and go upon the record.

     The following paper was read by the Rev. N. D. Pendleton:

     COMMENTS ON THE MIRACLES AND HISTORICALS OF THE WORD.

(This paper in its original form was read in Chicago, before the Illinois Association of the New Church.)

     IN former times men were induced to believe in and obey God because His works were out of the ordinary--because the specific manifestation of His power and presence with men revealed itself in the seeming impossible. Hence it has come to pass that the Word descending to us from those days is largely a record of faith-compelling miracles. But it is a remarkable fact that the very means once adopted to enforce belief is at this day appealed to by men to confirm their disbelief. It may now be said that in the eyes of the modern man the Word is largely a record of faith-destroying miracles.

     This, however, is but natural. In the days of miracles the minds of men were overawed by beholding inexplicable wonders called the "finger of God." When, however, miracles ceased, and only the records of them remained, it became an easy matter for the doubting mind to discredit the record. It is One thing to behold a miracle and quite another to read in after days the written account concerning it. In the latter case the mind is in greater freedom to disbelieve; but at the same time the Divine Truth involved in the miracle is in grave danger of being rejected because the miracle itself surpasses belief. It is indeed the accepted mode with many of those who would give us the true history of Scripture to treat the most, if not all, of the miracles recounted in the Word as self-evident fictions; and this attitude has led to the rejection of many things in the Word besides its so-called supernatural elements.

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Still, the ingenuity of these writers has discovered an underlying basis of true history, and this with reference even to some of the miracles. Take those of Egypt as an example. The Ten Plagues are not regarded as pure fiction by the more conservative writers, but are traced to the natural vicissitudes to which that land is at certain seasons subjected.

     But however satisfying this method of explanation may be to the scientific mind it cannot be adopted by the New Churchman, for the Writings characterize it as one of the modern "insanities."

     The New Churchman indeed does not look to miracles for the substantiation of his faith, the basis of which is rational conviction. Yet he is required to believe in the miracles related in the Word. But these are to him no longer unexplained and stupefying wonders. The laws concerning the relation of spirit to matter; the influx of the one into the other; along with many related arcana now revealed, enable him to rationally explain miracles in the light of spiritual laws and phenomena.

     Nevertheless, when he is acquainted with these laws and has acquired some skill in applying them, he will still find in the literal description of certain of the miracles apparent incongruities which will not yield to any of the known laws of spiritual interpretation. In other words, this question will from time to time force itself upon him: "Did the miracles invariably occur actually as described?" The majority present no difficulty to the mind of one having adequate knowledge of the spiritual laws taught in the Writings. There are, however, some (one at least) of which we must say that they did not occur exactly as described; though we must hasten to add that they appeared to do so.

     In making this statement I appeal to an authority which will not be questioned. Speaking of the standing still of the sun in Gibeon, and of the moon in the valley of Ajalon, by command of Joshua, Swedenborg says: "If it had been done just so it would have inverted the universal nature of the world." Clearly then this miracle was not done just as described. But lest we should think there was no miracle on the occasion, it is added: "Yet, without doubt, there was given them a light from heaven, a light in Gibeon like that of the sun, and a light in the valley of Ajalon like that of the moon."

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Thus in the eyes of the sons of Israel, and to all intents and purposes, the sun and moon did stand still. It is to be noted that this interpretation preserves the historical validity of the Word, and at the same time brings the miracles within the range of spiritual law as we understand it.

     The appearance of such a light in the heavens was produced by an "illation" of heavenly light into corresponding natural forms. This is evident from the teaching given in "De Miraculis," n. 60, as follows:

     All things which are viewed in nature . . . take place from the influx of the spiritual world into the natural, and in themselves are miracles, which on account of their accustomed aspect and perennial recurrence are not accounted as miracles. But know that the miracles which are related in the Word were done in like manner by means of influx from that prior world into this posterior one; and that they were done by means of the bringing in (illationem) of such things as are in the spiritual world into corresponding things in the natural world.

     It is then stated that in such a way the manna was caused to descend upon the camp, the bread and fishes were multiplied in the baskets, and the water in the vessels was changed into wine, That is, these things were done by an "illation" of the things of heaven into the "receptacles of nature." The passage thus continues:

     So that the miracles have not been done from causes sought out from nature...but are of the Divine omnipotence according to the order of influx...with merely this difference, that the things which come forth actually in the spiritual world are actually brought into such things in the natural word as correspond."

     In the light of this teaching concerning "illation" many of the miracles may be explained; that is, explained as well as any other phenomena of life.

     Another and quite distinct set of miracles may be understood from what is said in the Spiritual Diary, n. 4250, concerning a remarkable state of interior wakefulness into which Swedenborg was intromitted. He had every sensation of being awake and speaking with persons around him, and yet when he returned to a state of bodily consciousness he found himself alone and in the dark of night. He was informed that it is easy for man to be reduced to this state, but that it is not permitted at this day; and also that Abraham, Lot and Gideon were brought into such a state when they saw angels as men on earth speaking with them.

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     To my mind this presents a second and distinct phase of the subject. The phenomena which occur in a state of interior wakefulness, or when the bodily senses are put to sleep and the spiritual senses rendered active, are radically different from those which occur when there is an "illation" of spiritual actualities into corresponding natural forms. We call hardly suppose that the spiritual eyes of the Israelites were open when they beheld the miraculous light in the heavens which they took to be the sun standing still and in the light of which they pursued and slew their enemies. Rather, it was a natural light having a direct spiritual origin.

     The term "illation" is adopted from the Latin. It was evidently used to distinguish between the common and perpetual influx which causes all things to live and grow in due form and order, and that occasional or special influx which produces a miracle. These two classes of miracles are thus evidently distinct, but owing to the likeness of appearance it may not be possible always to distinguish them. That is to say, we may not always be able to determine with certainty whether a given appearance be produced by an opening of the spiritual sight or by an actual inflowing of spiritual things into natural forms. However, it is safe to say that all the recorded miracles dealing with visual appearances may be explained as to their essential features by either one or other or both of the above-mentioned modes. As to those features which may be termed non-essential, it must be remembered that the miracles were recorded simply as to their outward appearance, and recorded by, and for, those who had no knowledge of the spiritual laws operative. As in the case of the sun and moon standing still, there was such an appearance, and the appearance was recorded in good faith as a fact, and not as a seeming fact. We, however, know that the fact did not occur as related, and the knowledge of this relieves us of a serious dilemma.

     The question may now be fairly asked: "May we not say concerning certain other miracles, as Swedenborg said concerning that of Gibeon and Ajalon, that is, that they were not done just as described?" It is said in the Spiritual Diary, n. 1391, that Jonah was swallowed by a whale, and that the miracles in Egypt were actually done. We must therefore accept these as facts.

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But the point I would raise is, as to the propriety of regarding the actual occurrences as in some respects differing from the apparent literal account. The miracles of Egypt, for instance, consisted of ten plagues, which so devastated the whole land that scarcely anything was left alive. Every green thing was destroyed; all the cattle were killed, save only those belonging to the Israelites; and in like manner the first-born of every man and beast. Yet no sooner were the sons of Israel fled than we find Pharaoh pursuing them with "six hundred chosen chariots and all the chariots of Egypt;" suggesting the thought that the destruction must have been less comprehensive than the description would lead us to think.

     Of course we must not regard these or any of the miracles of the Word in a negative spirit; but it is permissible to study them in rational light. The spiritual laws operative are known. The natural difficulties which the text presents must be interpreted in the light of those laws and brought into accord with them. Observe what is said concerning the first plague. For the space of seven days every gathering of water in the whole land of Egypt, from the great river even to the water in the household vessels, was turned into blood: and it is added that the wise ones and sorcerers "did likewise." Now it is clear that as the Lord by an influx of spiritual essences into natural forms could turn the water into wine at the marriage feast, so could Aaron by the rod of Moses turn the water into blood in the land of Egypt: and that it was so done we can not doubt. But are we to presume that this latter miracle occurred within reasonable limits? It has been said that we must allow for the peculiar oriental usage of language. But I am disposed to think that the account is faithful and exact according to the appearance, as it presented itself to those who came within the sphere of the miraculous operation; but that this sphere was much more limited than at first appears.

     It is true that this, and every other part of the Word, written with a primal view to the internal sense. But this was done entirely from the Lord's view. The writers knew nothing of any such sense, and when writing history, though under inspiration, they wrote in good faith according to their knowledge and understanding of the facts.

471


This at least was in general the case. Their knowledge was limited and their understanding obscure. But all this was immaterial so far as the Divine purpose was concerned. It is no secret to us that the Divine may clothe itself in many kinds of appearances, in either fact or fiction; and it may be at times in a blending of both. New Churchmen are accustomed to regard the first chapters of Genesis as fictitious, or, as the Writings term it, "made history," by which is meant a writing in the assumed form of history, yet having no foundation in actual fact. Beginning, however, with Abraham we have the records of real history. The transition is apparently sudden. We are informed that Terah, the father of Abraham, was an individual, but that the long list of supposed forefathers of Terah, going back to Shem, the son of Noah, is but a record of the succeeding states of the Ancient Church. (Heber is indeed spoken of as an individual, but he was also a tribe or Church, and as such is mentioned in the list.) The history of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and of Jacob's sons, is given with much detail down to the time of the settlement in Egypt. Then follows a long gap of something like four hundred years, (if we take the chronology of the Word), or until the rise of Moses, the author of the five books which are identified with his name. As we know, the first chapters of Genesis were copied by him from the Ancient Word which was in his possession, and the events of the Exodus occurred under his eye. But whence came his knowledge of the history of the lives of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, concerning whom he wrote with such detail after the lapse of so many years? Certainly Moses wrote under inspiration, but there can be no doubt that as a general rule inspiration falls into knowledges previously existing in the mind; though it would be unsafe to claim such is invariably the case. We must presume that at the time of Moses there existed among the Sons of Israel traditions concerning the Patriarchs; and that these traditions were firmly fixed on fact, not only because these records are called true history in the Writings, but also because of the well-known fact that in ancient times, and also amongst primitive people, traditions--even oral traditions-were handed down from father to son for many generations with remarkable exactness.

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     The question which we must now ask is, "Are we to regard the records of the patriarchs as given in Genesis as true to their actual lives? Or are we to claim that owing to the traditionary character of the records a certain and inevitable fictitious element entered'" It may be noted here that no profane history was ever written in which something of fiction did not enter. Rationally considered it is as easy to conceive of the Divine clothing itself in a blending of fact and fiction as it is to conceive of it as clothing itself on the one hand in pure fiction and on the other in absolute fact. The same question may be asked in this form: "Did the inspiration given Moses communicate to him true, but unknown, facts concerning the lives of the patriarchs? Or did that inspiration simply fall into the acquired facts and knowledges in his mind?"

     If we answer the first question in the affirmative, and give it as a reason for the literal historical exactness of the records, we will encounter a serious difficulty, or rather we must make a very important modification, which will be considered later on. If on the other hand we affirm that the inspiration with Moses simply fell into the facts as known to him, then we must admit that there is unquestionably a mingling of fact and fiction in the records, inasmuch as the knowledges in his mind were in themselves simply the results of tradition.

     But supposing this to be the case; it is a matter of indifference so far as the spiritual man is concerned. The New Churchman has no concern for Abraham save as he stands as a type of the Lord; and his function in this respect is so superficial, so far as the man himself is concerned, that his name is not known in heaven, where the Word is in its essential form. If on the other hand we take the stand that the internal verity of the Word, when clothed in history, depends upon that history as absolute fact, then I think we must go the full length of that supposition and maintain that the written historical Word must express absolute true history in every direction, deed and word. But that so extreme a position cannot be maintained is evident from what has been said concerning the miracles, especially that of the sun and moon standing still. Moreover we find a violation of historical accuracy running through the entire account of the lives of Abraham, Isaac. Jacob and his sons, as given in Genesis--a violation designed for the sake of the internal sense.

473


According to the record the patriarchs are represented as worshiping and covenanting with Jehovah; and yet this sacred name of the Supreme God was entirely unknown to them. From this it would seem that the internal verity of the Word, instead of depending upon historical accuracy, in this important matter depended upon a violation of it. And that this was not infrequently the case we have every reason to believe.

     But what shall we say of the persistent effort now being made to separate the historically true from the fictitious portions of the Word? So far as this effort confines itself to the history of the Jews as a people it concerns us but little; but in so far as it tends to discredit the Word as a Book Divinely inspired it is pernicious.

     That the history of the Jews may be treated as a thing apart from the Word is not only useful, but indeed needful. Were a New Churchman to undertake such a work, he certainly would not consider the first eleven chapters of Genesis as history. It may be that he would not concern himself either to prove or disprove the statement that the thrice-repeated story concerning the patriarch who called his wife his sister arose from a single original event. The repetition of such an event is of course a historical possibility. But his mind, I think, would not be offended by the thought that this significant occurrence was repeated three times simply because of the requirements of the internal sense. However, he would be decidedly restrained from following this line of thought to the extreme lengths to which it is carried by many modern writers. Take, for example, the now-adopted view of the non-Mosaic authorship of the first five books of the Word. In the Spiritual Diary Swedenborg speaks of having interviews with both the patriarchs and Moses. Of the patriarchs he speaks in much the same manner as of Mohammed, and it would seem that some spirit represented these individuals under the prevailing notions held concerning them. This being the case, what is said concerning them is of little historical value so far as the persons are concerned. But in the following interview, taken also from the Spiritual Diary, n. 6107l it would seem that the real Moses comes before us:

     The Jews asked the Lord that Moses might be shown them.... He was then below in a place where the ancients are, in a quiet state. He came to me also and I spoke with him. He was a serious man.

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He said that he seemed to himself to be a man of about fifty years of age, although in the world he had been one hundred and twenty years old; and that he has with him his five books, and also the Ancient Word. I asked him about the book of Jasher. He said that he had seen it, and told me that that Word is still with the Ancients of his time, and is read. Also, that he knows about the following Word which exists at this day, but does not read it. I recounted some things from those which he had written concerning some things in the five books, and he recognized all things as if they were present to him.

     If this be taken as an interview with the real Moses we need go no further for proof of the fact that he did actually compile and write the five books of the Word which go by his name. So it would seem that, while we admit the existence of both historical fact and fiction in the Word, we none the less soon part company with the critics.

     As has been shown, when we think simply of the history of the Jews we must depart somewhat from the literal records as contained in the Word, but this does not involve our losing sight of the fact that the garments of the Word, both as to fact and fiction, are Divinely sacred. The hand that parts these garments does a profane thing. None the less we must come to a clear and definite view of the fact that the Word of God is one thing and the history of the Jews quite another; the one is Divine and the other is human and worldly. They are, however, in external form and appearance, identical, for the reason that parts and portions of that history, current and legendary, were altered, moulded and adapted by prophetic inspiration for giving outward expression to the Infinite Divine Word.

     To defend the integrity of Scripture is a sacred duty, but the defense must be in accord with the idea of the nature of that integrity. As to this, men and churches differ. Those who regard the Word as the inspired history of a chosen people are under the necessity of defending the literal truth or miraculous exactness of that history. And when as at the present day this defense is destroyed, the idea of inspiration necessarily suffers. Out of such a condition of things one needful result may come; that is, those who retain any faith will be forced to embrace some higher idea of the Word's inspiration and a truer conception of the meaning of inspiration. In other words, as the old dogmas are broken down the faithful remnant will more and more turn to the truth of the New Church.

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In the eyes of a New Churchman the integrity of the Word does not consist in its exactness as an expression of history, but in its exactness as an expression of history, but in its exactness as an external containant and an ultimate exponent of heavenly and Divine things. Thus instead of being a perfect expression of history it is a perfect because of Divinely-formed envelope. The major portion of this envelope is composed of history, and what is more, of true history; of this we are assured. And yet we must not permit this assurance to cause us to fall back into the old and untenable idea of inspired history, in the common meaning of that expression. The constant testimony of the Writings is that the Word is inspired because it contains in every part and portion, from beginning to end, an internal It is never claimed that its inspiration has the remotest reference to its historical exactness. The fact that it bears upon its face the impress of history is only referred to in a general way, and the information is given that as to one part it is made history, and as to the other true or real history. But on the other hand, the historical truth of Scripture is a vastly important matter to the Church. Upon it historical faith is founded; and this is the first faith of the Church, as it is the first faith with the man of the Church. It was the characteristic faith of the Christian Church, and it is also the faith of children and the simple.

     Such historical faith is the forerunner of rational and spiritual faith. It goes before and prepares the way, even as the first Christian Church prepared the way for the second. It was therefore, fitting that the first Christian should confide in and defend the Sacred Scripture as inspired history; that is, as history miraculously exact. In this way historical faith was given a sure foundation. But now that a new idea of the nature of inspiration is given we are not under the same necessity of defending "historical exactness" in order to preserve the idea of inspiration; and yet the need of historical faith continues, and hence the need of relying upon the truth of Scriptural history. If for high reasons the sacred account occasionally differs from the actual event, yet we must not for that reason dissociate the event from the account. To do so would be in effect to make the Word purely fictitious, and that would involve the destruction of all historical faith.

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     A purely fictitious Word might be given--was indeed given in the first instance. But with the Coming of the Lord into the world the Word was made, or became, history. It is a notable fact that actual history emerges with Abraham, the first specific representative of the Human of the Lord. And after Abraham every person and event bear direct reference, when spiritually interpreted, to the Assumption and Glorification of the Human. Thus around this event the whole historic Word was formed. These parts of the Word are historical because the Lord's Coming was actual and historical, and also because men should have historical faith in the event, as a basis for the higher spiritual faith which was to be afterward given.

     The culminating event of the Lord's life was His resurrection. Concerning the circumstances connected with His resurrection the Evangelists give various and varying accounts. Regarded as history, these accounts bear testimony to the event as certainly accomplished. Their variance one from the other is about what one would expect from different observers writing subsequently. Were we dealing with an ordinary event these variations in the accounts would present no stumbling block. The essential truth concerning the matter would not be invalidated. But the accounts themselves were inspired. Why then do they appear to disagree? The only satisfactory explanation to my mind is that the inspiration fell into the knowledge existing in the minds of the Evangelists; and that these knowledges were so wrought upon by the spirit of inspiration,--that is, the Holy Spirit,--that they became expressive of the real internal truth concerning the resurrection. The telling of this truth is the true object of inspiration. Regarding the whole Word as a Book Divinely inspired it appears to be a small matter whether a given statement be a pure fiction, an inexact historical, or the true account of an actual occurrence, so long as by correspondence it exactly fits, contains and expresses the Divine Truth.

     In a word, the old idea of inspiration must give place to the new, even as the historical faith of the first Christian Church must give place to the rational and spiritual faith of which the New Church is the exponent; and yet this must be done in such a way as to preserve historical faith in the truth of Scriptural history.

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     The Bishop invited discussion of the subject.

     Mr. Waelchli spoke of the paper with great appreciation; it solved certain difficulties. He himself had reached much the same conclusions, but the paper had defined them and brought them into clear light in his mind. The conclusion seems inevitable that a number of parts of the letter of the Word are tradition instead of history. The speaker mentioned several evidences of this,--as, the chronology of the patriarchs, which is not given the same in different passages; the births of the children of Jacob and their ages; the two-fold account of David's first coming to Saul; the construction of the Tabernacle, which is declared by builders impracticable of construction, according to the description and specifications in the Word, etc. The paper had satisfactorily shown the way to clear up such difficulties.-Mr. Odhner also felt that the paper was of value, to teachers especially; and to ministers who come across people who are troubled by such questions. This is New Church biblical criticism,--not negative, but affirmative. He himself was not deeply charmed by that department of investigation. He counseled care. We must sustain the position that in general the things in the Word are true as stated. If such difficulties are brought up by any one, and the ideas set forth in the paper are adduced in reply, then the affirmative should be brought forth at once; it is very necessary not to awaken skepticism. The subject should be handled with the greatest delicacy and care not to harm the state of simple faith--historical faith. The most sacred things in the world depend thereon. When explaining that the things narrated did not occur in the natural world just as stated, we should show that what took place in the spiritual world was really and fully true.--Mr. Price said that the paper had crystallized some things which had been in his mind for some time. For some years he had been making somewhat of a study of the Higher Criticism, and thought that by taking the results of the immense industry and learning of the critics we could derive great profit, without accepting their theories, which are pernicious. It was analogous in the case of the evolutionists and their labors. He put the critics into three classes: 1. The Atheist, whose purpose is the denial of Divine Revelation; his use is to dig up and expose facts. 2. The Rationalists, who claim to come to the work without prejudice for or against revelation; their results are of more use,--they are not so flippant as the atheists, not so repellant. 3. Is the Christian higher-critic, who believes in the Bible, but is troubled by such questions as those Mr. Pendleton has brought out. Human minds will formulate such questions, and will demand an answer; we must be ready to meet the suggested difficulties. He described a recent experience with a man met on a train to whom he had explained the story of Jonah and the whale on the basis of the necessity for the account being written just so on account of the internal sense: he had some hope of having made a convert. In reply to a question the speaker said it would not he easy to specify the ways in which the facts thus gathered would be valuable; one way would be in the light they would throw on the variant readings of the Hebrew Scriptures; no two versions, not even any two editions, are exactly identical.

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We will have to take a broader view of what constitutes the "integrity" of the Word.-Mr. Pitcairn expressed surprise at the statement that there is no authoritative version of the Hebrew Bible. He had supposed the statement of the Writings settled that,--that the Masontes were providentially raised up to secure the integrity of the Word.-Mr. Odhner also questioned the statement, but a request was made that the discussion be kept to the subject of the paper.-Mr. Starkey said that while he had not given the subject actual study, his reflections had been in a direction which had prepared him to give to the conclusions of the paper a general assent.-Mr. Hyatt also commended the paper. He said that it confirmed the truth that the Letter is given for the sake of the Spirit, and not the Spirit for the sake of the Letter.-Mr. Acton said that the teaching that true history begins in the Word after the first eleven chapters of Genesis is not weakened by the paper, though it may appear so because Mr. Pendleton has not dwelt upon the phase of the accuracy of the accounts as a whole, but upon the exceptions. But it is a fact that the Israelites were led to do certain things in certain wars for the sake of the internal sense, and names were given in the Word for the same reason; so that the history of the Word is true history,--to the exceptions and contradictions Mr. Pendleton had given satisfactory explanation; of those given by the old church commentators, no two agreed. There was no doubt that all things in the New Testament really took place, either in fact or in the minds of those who wrote the accounts; they were led to think this thing or that, or this thing or that was brought to their notice, in order that the account might be so written. The writers of the historical parts of the Word wrote as of themselves, differently from the prophets, who were seized by spirits and often did not understand what they wrote. We should emphasize--especially with children and the simple--that the historicals of the Word are true.-Mr. Bowers said that he regarded the paper as very useful and important for the consideration of the Church, especially the Clergy. He referred to the passage which says that the miracles of the Lord were done as described in the Letter, and to True Christian Religion, n. 91, which says that Divine miracles have been done according to order, that is, according to the order of influx of the spiritual world into the natural.--Mr. Doering asked Mr. Pendleton whether there is no basis in history for the first eleven chapters of Genesis, but Mr. Pendleton was not prepared to commit himself on that point.--Mr. Odhner said that we need to be very careful in this field, to keep to the statements of the Writings; though it would not do to discourage investigation.--Mr. Pendleton in summing up thanked the gentlemen for their frank and interesting comments; he had anticipated some such division of sentiment (rather that, than a division of view): his mind had been through the process of questioning, and he had hesitated about reading the paper in public for fear of being misunderstood and of disturbing the minds of some. It is debatable ground. He hall to write as he had done or not at all. He had adopted the negative line in order to make clear the positive line which the paper was intended to teach.

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There are certain questions which for the thinking man must be answered. His faith is stronger if the spiritual principles by which the things can be rationally interpreted are known to him. We can not answer such things as did the first Christians, with the dictum that the thing is true because impossible. Theirs was a state of historical faith, and there is something admirable in that position for them, but it would not do for us now; though the underlying historical truth of Revelation preserves for us,--wise, simple and all.--a faith and true and rational conception of the Word of God. The critical study of the Word in that spirit will be of use. We can always afford to give up a lower for a higher truth. There is somewhat the same application of this principle to the Writings as to the Word. In both forms, Divine perfection is clothed with human imperfections, else it could not have been adapted to our reception. None of the shafts of criticism can prevail against it.--The Bishop added that he believed the paper to be a very valuable contribution to the study of the Word in the direction of affirmative and constructive criticism.

     The meeting adjourned.
PUBLIC MEETING 1902

PUBLIC MEETING       Various       1902

WEDNESDAY EVENING, JUNE 25TH.

THE ANNUAL ADDRESS TO THE COUNCIL OF THE CLERGY.

     The Council of the Clergy, together with the Executive Committee and other friends, met in the evening to listen to the Annual Address to the Council, delivered by the Rev. Homer Synnestvedt, on the subject

     MODERN IDOLATRY.

     Once upon a time the nations of the world all fell into idolatry. This was in the days when there were still giants upon earth, and witches, and real magicians, and occasionally miracles. For a while there were a few wiser ones here and there, like Socrates for instance, who still thought of God as a supreme among all the Olympians, but after a while it got so bad that there was hardly any one who still worshiped the Lord, or even looked to Heaven. The Lord from heaven looked upon the sons of man, to see if there was one intelligent seeking God. But they had all gone back from Him, everyone. How this happened is explained in the Writings.

480




     The idolatries of the gentiles in ancient times derived their origin from the knowledge of correspondences. The ancients, who were in the knowledge of correspondences, made themselves images which corresponded to heavenly things; and they were delighted with them because they signified such things as are of Heaven and thence of the Church; therefore they placed them not only in their temples, but also in their houses; not for the sake of adoration, but of remembrance of the heavenly things which they signified. Hence in Egypt and elsewhere there were images of calves, oxen and serpents; also, of children, old men and virgins.

     They knew all the correspondences of nature--how something of the Lord and of heaven is clothed or embodied in each and every thing; and this knowledge most greatly delighted them. When the knowledge of correspondences had been obliterated, however, their descendants began to worship as holy, and at last as deities, the images set up by the ancients, because they were in their temples and near them.

     The worst of it was, that there was no nation left in the world which had not such a bad hereditary that if the real truths or even the real representations of heaven had been restored to them they would at once have profaned them, that is, would have used them to communicate with heaven, and to use their power for the gratification of their own pride and uncharitable lusts; as Balaam tried to do, at the behest of Moab's wicked king. So to meet this case the Lord raised up the Israelitish nation, who might represent a church, and outwardly at least maintain a strictly orderly or monotheistic worship. Hence this became the first of the Commandments, or of the covenant with them--"Thou shalt not have other Gods before my face." Yet, as we know, they were ever prone to transgress and to fall into the idolatries of Egypt, whence they had come up, and of the nations round about.

     Now what concerns us this evening in this connection, is, that in all this drama Israel represents the New Church; for this church also is established because men have fallen away from the worship of the one and only God, and are all prone before some one of the many gods which are idols. Perhaps it is not realized by all that whenever a church declines it falls into idolatry, and that the New Church, especially in this its wilderness state, is very prone to idolatries of many sorts, whence it is ever bringing plagues and hardships upon itself. It is supposed that men nowadays are not prone to idolatry.

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Even the children, when they read the frequent injunctions against idolatry, spurn the idea, and ridicule those who worshipped stone and wood, or the sun, moon and stars. But why is so much said about this sin in the Word, which is eternal? What constitutes worship, and what is represented by these idols? Let the Heavenly Doctrines answer; first, as to worship.

     "The delight of the natural man separated from the spiritual is in itself idolatrous;"--for a man really worships whatever he makes the end of ends within himself, thus his ruling love. The Lord has created and preserved for himself a habitation in the inmost or highest region of every human soul, but if man turns his back upon him there, this inmost is then mercifully closed up, and in its place, by inversion, the things that are below the spirit are set up and adored and served. This then is what is meant by internal idolatry, and it will be at once apparent that we are just as prone to it today as were the Jews or other nations of old, or the heathen in far lands. Here are two or three of the unmistakable teachings of the Heavenly Doctrines upon the subject.

     He who is in externals without an internal is in idolatrous worship, because his heart and his soul, when in worship, are not in heaven, but in the world; and he does not worship the holy things of the Word from heavenly love, but from earthly love.

     Now as to what is meant by idols, which are thus characterized in Psalm 135 (15-18):

     The idols of the nations are silver and gold, the work of men's hands. They have mouths, but they speak not, eyes have they, but they see not. They have ears, but they hear not; neither is there any breath in their mouths. They that make them are like unto them; so is every one that trusteth in them.

     In True Christian Religion we are told that to worship idols means in the natural sense not only graven images, but also men, living or dead. In the spiritual sense it means not to worship demons, or the evils and falsities which were typified by the various images.

     We cannot here enter into the subject of external idolatry, and how the well-disposed gentiles are kept from profaning, so that their idolatry is bent at last into worship of the Lord; nor can we stop to show from history how intense was the sensual delight of frenzy of those who were seized with this religious madness, in their worship.

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     Let us enter at once then upon the subject of internal or spiritual idolatry. In Arcana Coelestia, n. 1205, we read:--

     Internal idolatries are so many falsities and evil lusts which men love and adore and which are thus in the place of the gods and idols worshiped among the gentiles.

     (Further, in no. 8941): A religiosity which is hatched from self-intelligence, and not from the Word, is meant by "idols," "strange gods," "molten things" and "graven things;" for the things which are from proprium are nothing else. In themselves they are dead, and yet they are adored as if they were alive.

     To really understand why these things are meant by idolatry in the internal or spiritual sense, we must, as usual, have recourse to what is revealed concerning actual conditions in the spiritual world. As to this we learn two curious facts. First, that men who think themselves superior to all others here, become demons and demand worship there, as gods. These are the ones who inspire demon worship, which is forbidden in Deuteronomy xxxii, 16. The second fact is that men who would laugh at such folly here are seen in the other world actually engaged in making idols of various kinds, corresponding to the imitations which they have made in this life of the human forms of good and truth.

     Such an idol I have seen made by the English, by which they represent that faith alone, is the essential of salvation, and that it produces goods of charity without any co-operation from man. (A. E. 587)

     All in Hell are idolaters, for all break the first Commandment. Hence all that proceeds from Hell, or from the Proprium, is inwardly idolatrous as well as unclean.

     There is nothing to which Hell is so fundamentally and primarily opposed as to the acknowledgment of the one only Lord God, for this involves the worship of Him, which can be done in no other way than by the keeping of the Commandments, of which this is the first. They wish to put themselves in the first place, or those evils and falsities which they kiss and adore. It is for this reason that the nations rage against the Lord and against His anointed. Every cult therefore has its own joss, or its own beautifully graven image, decked in all the plausible figments of apparent truth which their skill can devise or their devotion supply. And what is their worship but an observance of certain externals? even--at times--of the commandments themselves; but all for their own sakes and that they may merit thereby.

483




     What but a carved image of wood is the popular doctrine that all men are saved, regardless of religion, if only they do "good works?" What but a sculpture of stone, hard, cold and lifeless, even though beautiful in its outer lineaments, is the modern orthodox faith? Is not the heresy of the Arians a golden image, with chains of silver? For do they not enthrone what they are pleased to call a "better self" as Divine, thus attributing to self, with all its hidden vileness, the Divinity which they steal from the Human of the Lord? And what is this but to call evil good, and thus to worship self and the devil in place of the Lord? What is the sensual science in our colleges and universities but a kind of Dagon or fish-god, which they worship in the world's marts of knowledge? What shall we say of the modern Moloch--the doctrine that it is both prudent and right to do away with our own offspring, or worse still to prevent? But worst of all, however, and most dangerous to the Church is perhaps the worship of the Golden Calf. To worship the Golden Calf is to exalt to the highest place the goodness which is merely human, for this is to us most alluring. And yet what else is done when merely human goodness and gentleness are exalted as Divine, and we are told, "these be thy Gods, Oh, Israel, which brought thee out of Egypt."

     For the men of the Church, however, there is no excuse for worshiping these gods of the nations about us, which are idols. For the man who has entered into the New Covenant, to join himself to other gods is to adulterate the things of the Church.

     It is said that man can by no means become spiritual or rational from mere natural good. He cannot become a church, except by means of the new good in the natural, which is begotten of heaven, and which results from the reception of truth in the conscience, and a forcing of the proprium to come into line with it. At first this is distasteful, not to say painful, and is usually undertaken only under the stress of some breaking up or softening of the usual natural delight. But if carried out, it soon yields a measure of new and higher delight, unknown before.

     It is in this way alone, we are told, that the Church can be established in man; and if that be the case it must be true of the Church in the community that it can only become an abiding place for the Church among men so far as its members, both priests and laymen, become churches themselves, by the acquisition of a genuine good in the natural--a good that springs from and is guided by all enlightened rationality.

484




     Man's natural he has in common with the beasts. So true is this that as we study the animals better known to us the resemblances appear almost startling and ofttimes very ludicrous, for instance, as the desire of one male to destroy all rivals. So far as men yield to these their animal instincts, they depart from heavenly order. Women are forms of conjugial love, and as they are exalted and reverenced or the reverse so is conjugial love itself, and so far the Church, with everything of heavenly order. The position of women in any society is an index of its state. If they are debased, or neglected, so is conjugial love and all the humanities. If on the other hand they dominate or usurp the place of the males, by so far again is true order subverted, and happiness banished.

     Every religion, when it declines, becomes in a manner idolatrous, because those who are in it begin to lose all its internal, and thus its real spirit and soul, and to fall away into its mere externals. (See especially Dr. Draper's work, The Intellectual Development of Europe.) Hence it becomes with them a mere semblance--a graven thing, and dead. It has a mouth, that is, doctrines of truth, but it speaketh not--that is, it does not give to them any perception of the truth of the doctrine. It has eyes, that is, the faculty of seeing, and also a persuasive light, but it seeth not, that is, imparts no real light.

     If therefore we would preserve anything of the Church among us, we must begin by keeping this first Commandment--by looking to the Lord alone, and shunning all these various idolatries, to which we are so prone. Unanimity, and a genuine mutual tolerance, can only be given, as we heard last night, when the two essentials of religion exist,--namely, love to the Lord, and from this mutual love. Just so far as we make up teachings out of our own head, or set up external things, or things of the proprium as objects of veneration, so far we depart from the one God, and the Church falls away from internals to externals, which is its destruction. Its externals may all be retained, but they no longer live and move and breathe the free air of heaven.

485


A strange rigidity and lack of freedom and spontaneity supervene, and if we were not aroused the true spirit of charity would soon depart from our midst. So it is also when we idolize the forms or the persons of the past rather than the living spirit of which they were in a measure the embodiment.

     As it is written in the Arcana: "In internal worship alone is there a bond which withholds man from idolatry; and when that bond is removed there remains no restraining power" (A. C. 1205).

     The New Church aims above all things to become an internal Church, or one wherein the Lord Himself rules in men's hearts and minds by means of his Word rationally received and understood by each one. In other words, it aims to be governed by the Holy Spirit which is within all the Law, and is not satisfied to remain in a state of literal obedience only. True, there be some that do abide in the latter state--"the poor ye have always with you,"--but the soul and life and spirit of the Church is ever drawn from the living waters, springing up into life eternal. It is from those with whom there is some reception of the internal things of the law that the Church must have its life, its plasticity and its growth. It is as internals are opened with us, and as we shun the adoration of mere externals,--and especially the cultivation of the delights of the merely external man, wherein lurk all evils,--that the Church can be preserved in an ever youthful state, and be prevented from getting old and dying, as the other churches have done. Man of himself ever tends to die, even as we are told that our bodies ever tend to constriction and death; so that if new life were not injected from the Lord through heaven with every new breath of the lungs and beat of the heart our bodies would die. So is it likewise with our spirit.

     In Arcana Coelestia, n. 3470, we learn how by degrees a new good is implanted like new fibers in the heart, with new juices, and thus in time a new heart. This is the law of growth, and of perpetual renewal of tissues; and every body which wants to keep on flourishing as the New Church hopes to do must constantly experience such a sloughing-off and removal. This is the secret of perpetual youth. Thus our old states of good and our old delights, as well as our views, must be removed, and replaced by new ones. We cannot continue to grow on the same old delights and the same old views; and yet the continuity of the spirit is unbroken.

486


As it is expressed in the Word, we must be given hearts of flesh for hearts of stone. Only at rare and precious moments is it given to a man to see how stony-hearted he is, and why his goods have to be extirpated by various means, lest if he were too comfortable he should remain in the delusion of his own sufficiency.

     The decrepitude of old age which precedes death is nothing else but a rigidity of all things of the body and mind,--a failing plasticity and power of adaptation. As the spirit of charity and loyalty to each other and to our constituted leader evanesces we become the congealed blood, in contact by our angels, with no fluid medium between; and thus we coagulate. But in the New Church, although our bodies may grow stiff and fail to respond as we could wish, may our spirits never do so--for ours it is to grow ever younger. If we have by this time softened the fibre of our wills and learned to bend the neck willingly and lovingly to the yoke of our Heavenly Master, then shall we find our spirit at least ever ready to mold and adapt all things external to the uses of life, as they unfold themselves from day to day, ever changing and ever expanding; and what is this but youth, and growth, and eternity? So shall the Church with us fulfill the ancient prophecies concerning it, and not fall, as the rest have fallen, into idolatry and death. So shall the living spirit of our faith never evanesce, nor the fire of our zeal grow cold and, receding, leave all things cold and formal and set in the rigidity of death, as are all the carcasses of the dead and dying religions about us. Neither shall we then labor with vain struggles and anxieties when each new indication of His Providence is disclosed to us; for we shall put away the idols of our youth and say: "Not unto us, O, Lord, not unto us, but unto Thy name give the glory."

     On the conclusion of the Address the Bishop said that the subject was open for discussion.

     Mr. Starkey dwelt upon the lesson given, that the evil of idolatry confronts us all: that it is because we worship the idols of self-love and love of the world that we are not alive to the neighbor's good, but see his evils, and become estranged from him. When it shall have become a habit of life to resist with our whole force these assaults upon our charity, in that proportion the uses of the Church will not be mere externals with us, but living forms, and the Church will multiply past our present conceptions.-

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Mr. Odhner said he was interested in the parallels drawn between idolatry in the Ancient and in other Churches. Idolatry arises when the Church grows old. A faith In one God constitutes the youth of a Church. The men of the Most Ancient Church when they fell away from the true God fell into the phantasy that they were gods; the Ancient Church fell into the worship of idols; the Jewish Church never was young, and worshiped Jehovah in form only, under types, from which they turned readily to gross idolatries; and the Christian Church as it grew old fell to worshiping three gods and many spiritual idols. The visible New Church he supposed would go through states of youth and become old, but there will be renewals. Its youth was when the Lord was first seen, though obscurely. This gave way to doubt and denial; and then the Lord raised up the Academy to give the Church a new youth, a new conception of the Lord, a new love. It stood for a new faith in the Lord; it got sight of Him in the Writings, and as long as we keep to that faith there is hope, and the longer we keep to it the more we can realize the Lord's love and can keep from idols. As the Apostle said: "Little children, keep yourselves from idols." So long as we love truth we love the Lord. The "apple of youth" is--the affection of truth.--Mr. Acton said that there are two kinds of idolatry: one is to worship idols outside ourselves; this may be accompanied by something of spiritual life. The other is internal idolatry, and is spiritual death. The paper had brought out important reasons why the First Commandment is given as it is. We are prone to worship externals for their own sake and lose the spirit that is in them. We worship ourselves in them. Few people openly worship the Devil; or, rather, the Devil is too cunning to show himself openly. To worship the external things of the Church is idolatry; it consists in taking the things of the Church and leaving the Lord out. One prevalent form is, to take the Letter of the Word and leave out the essential spirit. As men of the New Church we may develop an idolatry of the Writings; we may even fight and suffer for them, but without charity and love of the Truth for its own sake our worship becomes idolatry. Hence the first thing is, to make no image of the Lord to worship it instead of the Lord Himself. It is necessary not to be content with what is taught merely because it is taught, but we must go to the Writings and use the faculties which the Lord has given for that purpose, in order that we may not fall into idolatry.--Mr. Synnestvedt commented on the fact that in the decline of any Church an effort is made to make up for the decline by development of externals. When the old Christian charity vanishes men become more rigid, and make much of rituals, of the letter of the Word, and of piety.--Mr. N. D. Pendleton had enjoyed the paper and the subject as being one of universal application, applying to every man's life. Speaking as a minister, he said that the priest should lead to a continual renewal of life by his teaching. We must not remain forever in our old views and affections, but must advance in understanding and affection for the things which come to us from the Lord.

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Idols exist throughout the world, which shows that man's God--what he worships--must become visible to him, something tangible which he can see under an idea,--and that is his idol. But all images and ideas are gathered into the One supreme object of worship, and one Only Idol, the Lord in His Glorified Human. The approach to that we express by worship, for what man loves he worships,--either God, the world, or himself,--and the reason why the Lord made Himself visible was that we might approach Him, might prostrate our spirits before Him, and love Him, and so loving, might escape the damnable idea of ourselves. The Fiji Islander is permitted his image of clay, in order that his thought may be turned away from himself. The Lord finally took to Himself all images and idols and became the supreme and only object of love and worship.--Mr. Bowers said that the address reminded one that the Christian world is full of idolatry, which expresses itself in the universally prevailing naturalism. But we need not walk in that darkness, for we have the light.--Mr. Waelchli spoke of the three senses of the First Commandment,-natural, spiritual and celestial,--as given in the True Christian Religion,--and said that in order to be free from idolatry we must realize the celestial sense, which is that the Lord is All in all; we have some realization of this if we recognize that we are nothing of ourselves, that the Church is His, and He the All in all in His Church. Nothing but humility will save us from our idols.--Mr. Acton entered, in passing, a mild protest against the use of the term "idol" as applied to the Lord; the Lord Himself now appears without any other intermediary.--Mr. Odhner suggested a question as to the propriety of our publishing a copy of the Calistine portrait of the Lord,--which, on what seems to be good evidence, is held to be the most authentic,--and so giving the sanction of the Church to what is conceded to be the most satisfactory representation of the Lord.--Mr. Pitcairn had understood it to be the teaching that the form should recede from the mind in relation to the Lord, and that duality should be thought of--love and Wisdom,--with the form kept in the background.--Mr. N. D. Pendleton said that we are natural and remain natural in this world, and there must be an ultimate image for the idea to rest upon.--otherwise we would worship an invisible god. The Lord is Divine Love and Wisdom, but we must see this expressed ultimately as in the Man, Jesus Christ.--Mr. Starkey added, to illustrate the need and use of the natural as a background on which to base or support our thought, the fact that portraits of historical characters are so highly treasured,--they contribute something valuable to what we know of the men themselves.--Mr. Odhner pointed out that children seek for pictures of the Lord, and find comfort in even ugly and ludicrous ones: why not give them something better?--Mr. Acton referred to the memorable relation in Apocalypse Revealed (n. 611), where the boys asked whether they had appeared to others like dead horses because they had thought of the Lord from person, and their master had told them "With you it is necessary so to think, but when you are older you will grow beyond it."

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The Lord had come on earth so as to be ultimately visible, and so the early Christian Church had cultivated the idea of the personal appearance of the Lord, and so it is necessary for us as to our external thought; but the Lord, in making His Second Coming, has revealed what was only partially revealed before,-His Divinity,--what really constitutes a man, and to that internal idea we should elevate our thought. Children are delighted with a picture in the idea that it is the Lord. The Church cannot go and pick out a picture which will be accepted as the best; it would be developing the externals too much,--it would take away the internal idea. Parents should choose as they think best. We need not dwell on the ultimate idea.-Mr. Synnestvedt said it is a sound pedagogical principle to have ultimate images. We must first plant some good ultimate images, before the age when they recede into the background, so that the basis formed may be fit and appropriate and serve the highest use. The child is usually taught by the mother that the Lord is a Man; and the picture should be beautiful. He favored seeking for the most artistic rather than the most accurate portrait.-Mr. Odhner explained that in this case the most accurate is the most artistic.-Mr. N. D. Pendleton said that the most important picture of the Lord is that mental one derived from the New Testament, which work was given to us for that purpose,--as a picture of the Lord in His Glorified Human.

     The Bishop made to the meeting the announcement, already given at private sessions, of the decision that the time has come to introduce another man into the third degree of the Priesthood, and that Mr. Bostock had been selected. He explained the reasons for the step, and that it did not constitute the choice of the successor to the Presiding Bishop.

     The meeting adjourned.
JOINT COUNCIL MEETING 1902

JOINT COUNCIL MEETING       Various       1902

THURSDAY MORNING, JUNE 26.

     The Council of the Clergy and the Executive Committee met in joint council, and the morning was occupied with considering the subject of the Relation of the Writings and the Letter of the Word, with especial reference to the attitude of the Church in general toward it. The vigorous treatment of this subject by New Church Life was unanimously endorsed.

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     PUBLIC MEETING.

THURSDAY AFTERNOON.

     At the afternoon session of the Council of the Clergy the Rev. F. E. Waelchli read a paper on

     THE INSINUATION OF GOOD.

     "Good can be insinuated into another by anyone in the country, but not truth, except by those who are teaching ministers." (A. C. 6822.)

     This passage has often been quoted because of the doctrine given that it is not orderly for others than teaching ministers to insinuate truth; but it has been but seldom quoted because of the other doctrine which it contains, namely, that it is the privilege of everyone to insinuate good. This other doctrine we wish now to consider.

     The number of the Arcana from which the passage is taken treats of love to the Church as our neighbor. We are told first that this love is exercised when man is led to good, concerning which we read as follows:

     The Church is the neighbor more than one's country, for he who consults for the Church consults for the souls and eternal life of the men who are in the country: and the Church is consulted for when man is led to good, and he who does this from charity loves the neighbor, for he wishes, and wills heaven and happiness of life to eternity for another.

     Next we are told that this leading to good can be, done by anyone but that he who does it must exercise care that he do not assume the functions of a teaching minister:

     Good can be insinuated into another by anyone in the country, but not truth, except by those who are teaching ministers; if others do it, heresies arise, and the Church is disturbed and rent asunder.

     Finally the number teaches how charity is exercised in leading to good:

     Charity is exercised if by the truth which is of the Church the neighbor is led to good; if in the Church anything be called truth which leads away from good, this is not to be mentioned, for it is not truth. Everyone ought first to acquire truth to himself from the doctrine of the Church, and afterwards from the Word of the Lord; this will be the truth of his faith.

491




     Regarding the number as a whole, the following teaching may be drawn from it: Teaching ministers are to teach the truths of faith, and those who are taught are to receive what they see to be in accordance with doctrine and the Word. Truths thus acquired are the truths of faith with the man of the Church, and it is by means of these that anyone, priest or layman, can lead to good, or insinuate good, and thus consult for the welfare of souls and the good of the Church.

     To insinuate (from in, "in," and sinus, "the bosom") means to introduce gently, or as by a winding and narrow passage; to wind in; to infuse gently; to introduce artfully; to instill; to hint; to suggest by remote allusion. These definitions suggest that good and truth are insinuated when freedom and rational acceptance on the part of him to whom they are introduced are regarded; thus when everything savouring of compulsion and persuasion is avoided. The end should be none other than that good and truth may be gratefully initiated and find favor. In order that this may be accomplished, he who insinuates needs to keep his own personality in the background, and the good or truth to the fore. In the insinuation of truth the less the prominence of the teacher the fuller can be the introduction of truth; for then the truth, and not the man who imparts it, finds its way to the bosom of the hearer, who receives it almost as if it came to him without the medium of a teacher. The same applies to the insinuation of good.

     The insinuation of good is effected when, by means of conversation, there is awakened with another a love for good, and a love of doing it. Now, since such insinuation cannot take place except by means of truths, for truth is the only means by which there can be conversation concerning what pertains to good, the question may arise whether he who thus insinuates does not thereby become an instructor and enter into the work of a teaching minister. In reply to this question we would say, that he may in some cases become for the time an instructor, but does not thereby necessarily assume the functions of a teaching minister. The instruction of others is allowable for all, and is at times a duty of charity. This is evident from the internal sense of the many passages in the Word where borrowing and lending are spoken of, of which we will adduce only one, from Matthew: "Give to every one that asketh of thee; and from him that is desirous to borrow of thee, turn not away." (v. 42.)

492


Here by asking and desiring to borrow, and by giving and receiving what is borrowed, is signified the communication of heavenly goods, which are the knowledges of good and truth; in these we are to instruct him who longs to be instructed. (A. C. 9174; A. E. 556.) The same doctrine is also taught in the internal sense of these words in Ezekiel: "He hath given his bread to the hungry," which signifies from the good of charity to instruct those who long for truths. (A. E. 195)

     The layman of the Church, who, in accordance with this doctrine, instructs others, need not in so doing assume the functions of a teaching minister. In instruction given by him there will be an entirely different quality and also a different sphere from that which is in instruction given by a priest. He does not set himself up as an authorized teacher; but, in order to promote the good of another, he converses with him in such a manner that if possible good may be insinuated. The good which he may desire to insinuate can be of various kinds. It may be the good of a genuine understanding of the truth as revealed to the New Church, or the good of love for the truths of the Church, or the good of interest in the life of the organized Church, or the good of an upright life, and so on. In such insinuation of good, the truths of the Church may in some cases be directly referred to, and in other cases not; but even when they are not, they are interiorly in the thought of the one who seeks to introduce good to the other. Also, in some cases there will be more of instruction, and in other cases less. And it is useful to bear in mind that the less there is of the appearance of giving instruction, the more likely is it that the insinuation of good will be effected.

     The difference between the instruction given by a priest, whose end is the insinuation of truth, and the instruction given by a layman, whose end is the insinuation of good, can perhaps be best indicated by calling the former instruction and the latter conversation. We find these two terms used in the Doctrine of Charity, where, among the externals of worship, the following are mentioned: "Conversation with others about charity and faith, and about God, heaven, eternal life, and salvation. And in the case of priests preaching, and also private instruction" (n. 115).

493


That conversation, such as is here mentioned, may be a means by which a layman can impart teaching concerning spiritual things is evident from the doctrine given in the Apocalypse Explained, that "the Lord teaches mediately by the Word, by preaching, by reading, by speech and by intercourse with others." (A. E. 1173)

     That the layman who observes order does not, when he instructs, desire to insinuate truth, but that his prime thought is the insinuation of good, and that he therefore regards any instruction which he may give as being merely in the nature of an effort which may lead the one to whom he imparts it into that good state in which he will be inclined to receive or to receive more fully the instruction given by those who are teaching ministers, is evident from the internal sense of the story of the good Samaritan. By the Samaritan binding the wounds of him who had fallen among robbers, and pouring in oil and wine, and setting him upon his own beast, is signified to provide a remedy against the falsities which had injured his life, by instructing in the good of love and the truths of faith, according to the capacity of his understanding. By bringing him to the inn and taking care of him, is signified to bring him to those who are better instructed in the cognitions of good and truth. (A. E. 444.) Something of the performance of this duty of the good Samaritan is the end which will be present in all insinuation of good which looks to the promotion of the welfare of the Church.

     It is the evident teaching of the passage of the Arcana, quoted at the beginning of this paper, that the insinuation of good is the chief means by which anyone may exercise charity towards the Church as the neighbor. We say the chief means, because, although no other means are spoken of in this number, yet reason dictates that such charity can be exercised also by the financial support of the Church and the performance of various uses in it. But as these things are not mentioned here, nor in other passages in which the exercise of charity to the Church is treated of, we may conclude that the insinuation of good is the principal means by which everyone can "consult for the Church."

     The important position which the exercise of this charity should occupy is evident from the teaching in the Arcana that the individual man, society, the country, the Church, and the Lord's Kingdom, are the neighbor in successive order; that charity ascends according to these degrees; and that the superior degree is to be preferred to the inferior. (A. C. 6824.)

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Hence it follows that charity to the Church is to be preferred to charity to the country, to society, and to the individual.

     The same is taught in the Apocalypse Explained, where we read:

     Works are more or less good according to the excellence of the uses, for works must be of use. The best are those done for the sake of use to the Church; to these succeed those done for the sake of use to our country: and so on. The use determines the goodness of the works. (A. E. 975)

     Uses done to the Church are the best of uses, because they have as their end the welfare of souls and their eternal happiness, and thus are spiritual. That the man of the Church should regard spiritual uses as the highest of all uses is clearly taught in the following from Conjugial Love:

     Man, at his first creation, was imbued with wisdom and its love, not for the sake of himself, but that he might communicate it to others from himself. Hence it is inscribed on the wisdom of the wise that no one is wise, or lives for himself alone, but for others at the same time; this is the origin of society, which otherwise could not exist. Living for others consists in doing uses. Uses are the bonds of society, and these bonds are as many in number as there are good uses; and uses are infinite in number. There are spiritual uses, which are of love to God and of love towards the neighbor; there are moral and civil uses, which are of love to the society and city in which a man is, and to his companions and fellow-citizens with whom he is: there are natural uses, which are of love to the world and its necessities; and there are corporeal uses, which are of the love of self-preservation for the sake of higher uses. All these uses are inscribed on man, and follow in order one after another; and when they are together one is in the other. Those who are in the first uses, which are spiritual, are also in the following ones, and these persons are wise. (C. L. 18.)

     But although spiritual uses, or those which regard the welfare of souls, are given the first and most important place in the passages which have been quoted, yet there is another set of passages which gives them a secondary place, while man's daily employment, whereby he is of use to the community and the country, is put in the first place. In the Doctrine of Charity, chapter VIII., we are taught that all things of charity have regard to looking to the Lord and shunning evils as sins, and doing the goods of use that pertain to one's calling; but that all things of worship are externals, and signs of charity.

495


Among these externals is mentioned "Conversation with others about God, heaven, eternal life, and salvation;" and such conversation is, as has been shown, the principal means by which the insinuation of good takes place. In the True Christian Religion we learn that among the duties of charity, which are secondary to the life of charity, is the payment of taxes for the support of the Church (n. 430); and, also, in the same work, that among the benefactions of charity, the doing of which is left to man's liberty and pleasure, is the building and endowing of churches. It is the plain teaching of these passages that uses to the Church should occupy a secondary place, while the performance of one's daily use, or one's use to the community and the country, should be in the first place. How can these passages be brought into harmony with those adduced above, where uses to the Church are put in the highest place?

     The harmony of these two sets of passages becomes evident when the teaching is borne in mind that man is born into the natural world in order that he may be prepared for the spiritual. In his natural or worldly life the foundation is laid for spiritual or eternal life. Thus, also, in the performance of his natural or worldly use is the preparation and the laying of the foundation for his spiritual and eternal use; and in the doing of it his regeneration is chiefly effected. Therefore it is the first thing of his life in this world, and other things are secondary. Among these secondary things is the performance of spiritual uses, which regard the welfare of souls and the good of the Church,--uses similar to those which, in the other life, he will perform to eternity. He who from love performs such uses, while recognizing that the doing of them must occupy a secondary place in his life in this world, yet realizes that in themselves they are of a higher order than worldly uses, because done for the Church, which is the neighbor more than the community or the country.

     As has already been indicated, it is by the insinuation of good that the layman can more than in and other way promote the good of the Church. And it may be added, that a Church in which this is done will grow and prosper, but that a Church in which it is not done, or but little done, will surely decline, even though it he ever so richly supported financially. Those whose faith is more abundantly stored with truths call perform this use to the church more fully than others; but the way is open for all to enter into it.

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Some will by nature and disposition be more adapted for one phase of this work, and others for another; some, for example, can perform it most successfully among those who are in simple states; others will have the gift of being able to enter into companionship with young men, and to avail themselves of favorable opportunities for arousing interest in spiritual things; others again, especially young men, can perform a similar use among boys entering into young-manhood; and so on. But the greatest of all opportunities for the insinuation of good is in the home life. It is the duty of parents to insinuate both truth and good,--truth by what partakes of the nature of formal instruction, and good by means of words spoken and admonitions given in regard to the life which leads to heaven, as also by means of the zeal and earnestness for the Church which they manifest and which makes its impression on their children, and finally by means of the example which they themselves set of an upright life in accordance with divine precepts. A home in which there is not the insinuation of good and truth will scarcely rear its children for the Church.

     Many instances could he given in which the insinuation of good has performed a great use for the Church. Who does not know of men who have been instrumental in bringing others to the light of the New Church, or in bringing such as were already in the Church to a true understanding of its principles, thus fulfilling the truth of the good Samaritan? Among other illustrations of the good of this use there comes to mind the case of a man, an isolated New Churchman, who was led by an earnest layman to realize the importance of daily reading in the Word and the Writings; the case of more than one young man whose affection for the Church and its doctrines was in great measure awakened by some layman; the case of a young woman, not blessed with the privilege of a mother's guidance, who owes it to the loving counsel of a loyal New Church woman that she remained true to the principle of marriage within the Church; the many cases of men and women who acknowledge that but for the precept and example of their parents they would not today be of the Church. But why multiply examples, when everyone can readily call to mind many from his own observation and experience?

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     But although many instances of the beneficial results of the insinuation of good call be given, yet is it not true that the performance of this use by means of conversation concerning things of the Church is not as common as it should be? There is indeed a certain amount of such conversation, but as a rule it pertains to matters relating to the external life and growth of the Church, and its trials and difficulties. Such conversation is useful, and we are told that the Primitive Christians engaged in it at their gatherings. But there should also be conversation about the more interior things of the Church; and this is comparatively seldom engaged in. What these interior things are is plainly indicated in the passage from the Doctrine of Charity quoted above, where we are taught that amen: the things of worship which are to be observed is "conversation with others about charity and faith, and about God, heaven, eternal life, and salvation." (n. 115) Who does not recognize that the good of the Church would be greatly promoted by a more general observance of this essential of worship?

     It may be useful to consider why there is a lack of such conversation in our body. One reason which presents itself is that it has been discouraged in the past by the frequent use of the expression, "Mind your own business;" by which expression the idea was evidently to be conveyed that a layman had sufficient to do if he attended to the duties of his daily use, and that his duties to the Church, outside of his home, consisted only in his attendance upon worship and meetings, and in the financial support of the Church and the administration of its external affairs; and that if he undertook to do more he was interfering in things which were the business of the priesthood only.

     Another reason may be the fact that the doctrine that the insinuation of truth must be done by those only who are teaching ministers has been interpreted to mean that it is disorderly for a layman to do any teaching whatever in spiritual things, excepting in his own home. But that such an interpretation is unwarranted is evident from what was adduced above from the Doctrines in regard to the signification of "lending," in the Word, as also in regard to the internal sense of the story of the good Samaritan.

498


It is probable that some have abstained from engaging as much as they may have desired in conversation with others in regard to spiritual things because of the fear that by teaching others they might be usurping the position of a teaching minister, or because they felt that those to whom they spoke regarded them as engaging in what was "none of their business."

     Still another reason which may prevent freedom of conversation on spiritual subjects may be something of a fear that in case we should frequently engage in it others might regard us with aversion, or, if we may use the expression, consider us "a bore." The world has come to so regard the man who speaks much of religion, and it may be that something of this state also infests the New Church.

     But there is probably in many cases a reason more interior than those which we have given for the lack of conversation about spiritual things, namely, the lack of real interest in them. "Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh." If the heart be full of interest in spiritual things, full of affection for and meditation upon the truths concerning charity and faith, and concerning God, heaven, eternal life, and salvation, then how can it he otherwise than that conversation in regard to these things will follow? If it does not follow, it must be because one of the more external reasons which we have mentioned, or some similar one, interferes.

     If the lack of conversation on subjects relating to the Church and religion be regarded by others, as well as by the writer as a condition which is in great measure harmful to the growth and progress of the Church, then it would certainly be in order that there he serious consideration as to whether anything can be done to remedy the same. In so far as this condition has its origin in the lack of interest in spiritual things, there can be: nothing done to remedy it other than the continued insinuation of truth by the priesthood, and the continued insinuation of good by all who are moved to perform this use. But in so far as the condition is due to external causes, it can probably be greatly remedied if the Church learn to realize more fully the following things:

     1. That one of the most important means by which everyone can promote the good of the Church is the insinuation of good.

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     2. That this can be done principally by conversation concerning the things of the Church and religion.

     3. That it is not disorderly for a layman to instruct others, so long as he does not assume the position of a teaching minister.

     4. That those who are of the New Church should not permit that Old Church state, which regards conversation on spiritual subjects as dry and uninteresting, to infest them; and, especially, that everyone should remove the thought that his brethren in the Church are averse to his speaking of these things with them, and believe instead that they would affectionately respond to his efforts to converse on spiritual subjects, and thus enter with him into a communion of thought similar to that which prevails amongst the angels of heaven.

     The Bishop said that the subject was now before the meeting, and that it was well worthy a full consideration, in order that a common understanding might be reached.

     Mr. Acton said that the subject is one of the most important and vital to the Church, for unless good is insinuated we have truth alone, which is spiritual death. The insinuation of good is the excitation of affection, since good is insinuated when affection is excited. This suggests the importance of New Church Education; it involves that in all instruction and in all subjects the insinuation of good is the essential thing. Herein appears the necessity for distinctiveness. In the Old Church schools science is imparted as well--as it is thought by some, or even better-than in New Church schools; but in them nothing is known of the insinuation of good. In the other world angels instruct children by representatives into which the children enter with affection; as, for instance, when, as described in Heaven and Hell, in an infantile representation they let down something representing the Lord by slender threads into the sepulchre, and this with a very holy sphere. Thus affection is aroused to think of the Lord. A similar excitation of affection is effected with our children by the sphere of our worship, insinuating affection for the things of religion. In the home, too, if there is an evident approach to the Lord, good is insinuated. Likewise through the sphere in the school. This insinuation is in the degree of the sphere, and in the degree that it is felt. In the schools of the world there is a sphere of evil and the false, which is insinuated instead of good,--a sphere of irreverence for the Word and the Lord. As to the insinuation of good with adults, conversation on interior things is as the paper said an important means. That it is not more common is due principally to the difficulty of our minds--which are so largely natural in their interests--being opened to reception of spiritual things.

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The natural resists. It requires reading and study to keep alive and develop an active interest in spiritual things, and that excites an affection for thinking and speaking about the things of the Church. He had observed that in our body there is on the whole a marked interest in such things, as evidenced in the full attendance at meetings where such things, are concerned: also, at social gatherings, which are an important means for the insinuation of good, especially the sphere of the General Assemblies, where our spheres are strengthened by those of others, and the warmth of affection for the Church is mutually excited. Yet we must ever guard against making the social life merely external,--such as may be met with anywhere,--for to that the natural man strongly tends, especially with the young. But the externals peculiar to the Church are especially useful in keeping our interest in the Church active, such as the news of the Church; this arouses affection, and hence is given a place in the columns of the Life and is much enjoyed there, being the thing in the magazine to which many turn first. He spoke of the use performed by those who contributed such matter to the Life, and suggested the importance of keeping in view in such contributions the news of the real progress and interests of the societies.-Mr. Bostock said that he had long been interested in the subject of the two kinds of insinuation--of good and of truth. It would be absurd to think that laymen could never talk about truths or call attention of others to them. Danger would arise if laymen took it upon themselves to study subjects, investigate truths and present papers, with the idea of giving systematic instruction in doctrine, and not keep within the general limit of truths commonly received and acknowledged. The speaker would not lay quite so much stress upon conversation as a means as the paper did; a man insinuates good when he performs his daily use; right action, on all planes, do this: and many opportunities are given to take a stand in favor of what is just and right, and to perform one's use for its own sake and not merely to get rich. But all these means, of conversation, worship, social life, schools and the home, are only means; the real good inflows from within.--Mr. Klein said he was impressed with how much laymen can insinuate by conversation. In the region of Middleport, where for years the visits of ministers were almost none, the greater number of the members of the New Church were brought in by means of instruction imparted in this way, from one to another; afterward the ministers had come and had finished the work. He had also seen cases of the abuse of lay instruction. He asked whether the ministers thought there was any objection to a layman reading the Word to children in Sunday-school in the absence of the minister.-Mr. Synnestvedt, inquiring into the end for which the teaching against lay teaching is given, said that it is to prevent heresies arising. If the layman looks, to the priesthood as the appointed teachers of the Church, and is not trying to usurp priestly functions, he thought there would he little danger of heresy in consequence, or of injurious fallacies.

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Ministers, by their preparation, by their contact with each other, and by the illustration of their office, are guarded from falling into heresy. It is from those laymen who put their conceit against the superior advantages of the priesthood,-who have an illegitimate delight in leading and teaching from themselves and yet do not seek to enter the priesthood,--that the harm comes. These steal from those whose function it is to teach. But where there is no minister and there is no other way than for a layman to take hold and do what he can, he would do no harm ii he is in the right attitude toward the priesthood.--Mr. Price also thought that "circumstances alter cases." There are times when laymen may both study and teach. He instanced the case of the Island of Mauritius, where for 63 years the Doctrines have been usefully taught by laymen, because no minister could be induced to go there; and a live interest in the Church had been kept up. But it was a case of necessity, and all the time there was with them a strong desire to have a minister. While recognizing the importance of conversation as a means of insinuating good he made a plea for the avoidance of the formal dragging in of such subjects and the compelling of people to talk on them; only when it is spontaneous is it of much value. He referred to those in the Memorable Relation, who were brought into a swooning condition by perpetual elevation to religious themes, and the priests who wearied out their flocks by their ministrations.-Mr. N. D. Pendleton spoke of the need for special training to administer the holy things of religion, and special inauguration. Yet there is a danger, in insistance on the prohibition of laymen from teaching, that they get the idea that the priesthood do not desire their aid,--which he thought would be most unfortunate. The dangers arising from the laymen on this head are incidental: the dangers to the Church mostly arise from priests, those skilled in the laws of the Church, who make a bad use of the truth for their own ends.--Mr. Pitcairn said that he was glad to see the importance of conversation on religious subjects to the life of the Church brought out. This feature has largely distinguished our body, and our active Church life is due to that interest in the things of the Church, which is always shown when doctrinal matters are being discussed. Where there seems to be a call for a layman to teach, in absence of a minister, there ought to be trust in Providence to guard the Church against harm. He spoke at length of the conditions and history in Mauritius, and testified to the New Church duality of the men from there whom he had met. The Church there had been protected from heresy, had acknowledged the Authority of the Writings, were sound upon New Church Education (having established a school), they held family worship, and brought up large families.-Mr. Synnestvedt, on the other hand, dwelt somewhat on the wrong kind of lay-teaching and gave as an instance a case recently brought under his observation where a small but promising society had been utterly disrupted by a layman, who from delight in teaching and leading had set himself up against the minister, although the latter was teaching good doctrine. This layman had fallen into heresies; he made it a point to invalidate New Church Baptism as being wrong, and insisted on unfermented wine at the Holy Supper; had friction with the minister, and finally got some of the people to turn against the minister, while the others got disturbed and left; so that he himself was left at last with no one to minister to.-

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Mr. Pendleton spoke of the interest that is awakened when the laymen feel free to classes. It is the most stimulating thing to a minister's use that he can speak out, as, for instance, in doctrinal class is much more apt to better other laymen than he does the minister. The layman who is inclined to teach in class is much more apt to bother other laymen than he does the minister.-Mr. Bostock, replying to Mr. Klein's question, held there is no harm at all in laymen reading from the Word in Sunday-school,--that it would be most useful under the circumstances described. He thought it would not be well, however, to choose a layman who showed a desire to teach other things outside his sphere. He thought that the present predicament in Mauritius, where the interest is now flagging and the young going outside the Church, indicated that though lay ministrations may be valuable in an emergency they not he relied to suffice indefinitely or to establish the Church; they must be followed up by priestly work.--Mr. Acton described the situation in Mauritius as pathetic in the extreme. During the past fifty Years they have made frequent appeals to the Conference and to Convention to send a minister, and the answer always has been: "We have no minister to send." Apparently there had been no strenuous effort to meet their need, which he thought was due largely to lack of realization of the necessity for the priesthood.-Mr. Starkey said that by the paper and discussion Iris ideas had been broadened as to the scope of a layman's legitimately teaching truth, and he rejoiced at the increasing co-operation which he saw to be possible between priests and laymen. He thought that an important means of insinuating good is by the sphere of our life when we shun evils as sins, which goes forth as an unconscious result, and affects the neighbor. If, for instance, when we are with our fellow-member of the Church we are tempted to think or to speak ill of the neighbor, and we resist it, even if we say nothing, it will produce an And in proportion as the members of the Church acquire the habit of resisting evils in the daily walks of life, there will he an immensely increasing sphere of good within the Church, for the Lord inflow with them with good, and the sphere flowing from them will be His.--Mr. Bowers said that there may be insinuation of good without talking much--by life. Those who live according to doctrine become shining lights in the word, and they will insinuate good with those who are well-disposed.--Mr. Waelchli said he wished to repeat the idea that with the layman it is by conversation, that has for its end the welfare of the Church, that the insinuation of good can be principally effected. He thought that the number quoted in his paper (A. C. 6822) indicated that conversation is the principal means, since truth is the instrument by which man is led to good. He thought that the good insinuated a man's use is on a lower plane than that insinuated with the Church, particularly in mind, and with the good of the Church as an end. He agreed that there is not a little conversation in our Church on spiritual things, but thought that we need more.

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     The meeting adjourned.

     On Thursday evening a social was held in the Carmel Church's house of worship, which was fully attended, and was characterized by the warm spirit which customarily is present at these meetings.
JOINT COUNCILS MEETING 1902

JOINT COUNCILS MEETING       Various       1902

FRIDAY MORNING, JUNE 27TH.

     After the opening exercises the subject taken up was that of "Summer Schools."

     Mr. Synnestvedt spoke of the need for teachers not to get into ruts, and in thinking over it it had occurred to him that a summer school would meet a real want, and also that Ministers might benefit by something of the same sort. None of us but feel the need of coming back to the centre to be refreshed by contact with the ideas and achievements in the line of progress. Those who are making a specialty in certain lines of study, as the theological professors, have an advantage in which it seems that the others ought to share somewhat. He had dropped into Bishop Pendleton's theological class a few times the past winter and discovered that there was some new teaching on the subject of Exposition of the Word, which made him anxious to get more of it. If the Bishop had the strength he might in a few weeks of summer school give those who could attend, the benefit of the chief lines of progress that he had been making. Bryn Athyn, as having the sleeping accommodations, now that the dormitories will be available, is the natural place for the school, as well as because it is the centre. For what he had in mind a regular class would be required; meetings would not suffice. "If you want to get the full benefit of a University you must go back to it from time to time." One cannot get the same good from published lectures; there is not the living contact and application to current needs--The Bishop said that there were three lines of summer work which might be undertaken in connection with the Academy, that had been on his mind in connection with the higher education. 1. Have a summer school for young pupils and others whose parents are not able to send them for a whole year, to which they could come after finishing at the secular schools. This would he in line with Mr. Waelchli's efforts in Ontario. 2. A summer school for Teachers. There is no doubt that they ought to get together and get the benefit of the advance made by the leaders. 3. A summer school for Ministers, by which they can be getting the advantage of the advance that is being made,--and if there is not advance there must be something wrong in the work.

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The first of these to be practically realized would probably he the summer-school for Teachers. As to the matter of Exposition he could not say that he had studied very much, but some new things had come to him, and he should be very happy to communicate them to others. In the ordinary meetings we do not get into each other's interior thought. We cannot have this school at the time of our annual meetings; and we cannot have it every summer. If we can have it every four or five years it will be as much as we can expect. It ought not to last over three or four weeks at most.--Mr. Synnestvedt said that it would be a great opportunity for ministers looking toward our body.--Mr. Waelchli said that a lone minister is very much like an isolated receiver,--he is apt to become a crank on some subject or other. The other members of the Council of the Clergy expressed great pleasure at the project, it being only a question of practicability. It was agreed that we must not let the other uses suffer; and it was suggested that District Assemblies might furnish an opportunity for some of the ministers to get together.

     The meeting then listened to Mr. Bostock's account of his recent visit to England, after which it adjourned.
PUBLIC MEETING 1902

PUBLIC MEETING       Various       1902

FRIDAY AFTERNOON, JUNE 27TH.

     On Friday afternoon a paper was read by the Rev. John E. Bowers, entitled

     THE GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE CHURCH.

     THE New Church grows like the cedar or the oak, slowly, but unceasingly. The subject of the Church is man, in whom the Church is by virtue of what is from the Divine. In the Word man is represented by a tree, in general, and more particularly or in a higher sense by a fruit-bearing tree. To anyone, therefore, who has a knowledge of correspondences, a tree and the process of its formation--through the various stages, its leaves, buds, blossoms, to the ripe and delicious product according to its kind,--furnishes many interesting illustrations as to the growth and development of the spiritual principles of the Church in man.

     So long as a tree is living it is continually growing.

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Even during the condition when the appearance is to the contrary, as in winter, when the tree is without the vesture of its foliage, there is a process of development going on. There are corresponding states in man while he is being regenerated. When he is deprived of his own life, his proprium, and he feels the pangs of a kind of death, even then there is a marvelous process of spiritual development going on in the interiors of his mind and soul. The Lord is then communicating to the man of His life, in order that he may be rescued from the death which would otherwise ensue, and that he may spiritually live; that he may afterward bring forth the fruits of the deeds of charity and be prepared to enter into the ineffable joys of heaven.

     The natural process of growth is so gradual as to be imperceptible to the sight, and is in fact miraculous. By the wonderful operation, from the interior principles of nature, from the seed,--as for instance from the acorn,--there is produced the giant tree, firmly rooted in the ground, bearing aloft its graceful, widespreading branches, and presenting a beautiful object to look upon. If we are disposed to give ourselves time to think of, and to seriously meditate upon, the works of the Hand of God in the material world, we shall find innumerable forms of uses as correspondences of things spiritual and heavenly exhibited to our observation everywhere in nature's vast domain, which challenge our most profound admiration and gratitude. "Universal nature is a theatre representative of the kingdom of the Lord." (A. C. 4939)

     The natural operation of growth, resulting in the production of the endless variety of material forms of use, which constitute the beauty and the perfection of the world, is the ultimate of the Divine Operation Itself, whereby there are produced spiritual forms of use. The forms Of use which are created by the Lord as correspondences of the states of affection and thought of the angels are things most glorious and stupendous. For, if the processes by which physical things are formed are imperceptible and inscrutable, how much more must this be the case with regard to those objects which are created by the Builder of the Universe, in the spiritual world!

     The New Church grows slowly because it is to endure forever. It is not a sect, in any sense whatever, although it is regarded by some who are at least nominally members of it as among the more liberal, advanced and progressive of the sects.

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It is absolutely a New Dispensation, the crown of all Churches which have been since the beginning of the world, the glory of the latter days, in which has been fulfilled all prophecy, which can never be destroyed, but which is to last into the ages of the ages or through endless time, its beneficent influence extending, and its saving power increasing, among all the nations of the earth from generation to generation. It was foretold in the dream of Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel, in which there was seen a stone cut out without hands, or, which was not in hands; and the stone which smote the image became a great rock and filled the whole earth. And in the same connection it is said that the God of the heavens should establish a kingdom which should never perish, but which Should stand forever. (Dan., ii:35, 44.)

     The Lord, Who is the same from eternity to eternity, establishes His Church to all eternity. He alone knows where and in whom the Church is, what is its growth and increase, and how its development proceeds. The man of the Church knows but little or nothing as to the degree in which truth and good from the Lord are in him, or what is the state of his regeneration.

     Nevertheless, we can certainly see some external signs and manifestations of the growth of the Church, for these, to an intelligent person, are perceivable. The quality of a tree is known by the kind of fruit which it brings forth. By a close examination of ourselves in the searching light of truth, as it shines brightly from the pages of the Word now opened as to its spiritual sense, penetrating to the very depths of the human soul, and revealing to man his state, his thoughts, affections and motives,--we may surely know whether our ruling loves are good or evil, heavenly or diabolical. By the same means of introspection we may know whether we are disposed to acknowledge the Lord, our Heavenly Father, in all things of His dealings with us and all His children; in all the dispensations and permissions of His providence; or, whether we impugn His goodness, condemn His mercy and loving kindness, and refuse to be humble and submissive before Him and to have implicit confidence in Him in the belief that He knows infinitely better than we do what is for our good.

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We may know whether we are in conjugial love, in mutual love, loving our neighbor as ourselves, rejoicing in his temporal and especially in his spiritual prosperity, and wishing him well in time and to eternity; or, whether we permit the insidious devil of jealousy to put envious thoughts into our hearts against any fellow-being under any circumstances, causing us to burn with hatred against him. Thus we may know whether the Church is growing in us, or whether the opposite evil and false principles bear rule and have the ascendency within us.

     The New Church grows gradually, because this is the method which is according to Divine order. For the growth of the Church involves the formation of human minds according to Divine order, and thus the regeneration of the individuals who become members of the Church.

     Al1 things which have the characteristics of permanency are very slow and gradual in their development. Geology teaches that it required millions of years to form the strata of the rocks, which are the solid, everlasting foundations of the earth. The grand and majestic mountains, towering into the sky and lifting their summits above the clouds, were countless ages in process of formation. But the rocks and the mountains are the most impressive features of permanency upon the face of nature; and hence these objects are correspondences of the Divine Truth and the Divine Love of God, which are eternal. In the Word, the Lord as to the Divine Truth is called a Rock. And the Church is described as to Divine Love, by the expression: "The mountain of His holiness. Beautiful in situation, the joy of the whole earth, is Mount Zion,...the city of the great King." (Psalm xlviii: 1, 2.)

     The New Church, as to the great abundance of revealed truths, which constitute its system of doctrine, and which system is absolutely perfect and complete, not lacking in anything whatever as a means of instruction for men on all subjects in all the ages to come,--this our beloved Church of the New Jerusalem, which is the only hope for the salvation of men,--is like a deep and mighty river, which is formed of the accumulation of the waters of many tributaries and smaller streams, and which is ever moving silently onward in its course with irresistible power.

     Again, the New Church is like the sun, by which it is so often represented in the Word; which, having represented in the Word; which having come forth from the east, and the unwholesome mists of the morning being dissipated by the influence of his rays, shines ever brighter unto the perfect day.

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The Glory of the Lord has been revealed in the New Church, and her Sun shall never go down or be darkened any more.

     Individuals, however, who make a beginning to learn something of the Church, and get some general notion concerning the doctrines, but who afterwards cease to read the Writings, will certainly relapse into an obscure state. Those who do not continue to keep their minds brightened by receiving the light of spiritual truth, in under that their intellectual vision may become clearer and that their minds may be formed by a steady growth, will in the course of time have their understanding darkened. And if this be the case, how dreadful is that darkness and how sad such a state of mind! Instead of the light of spiritual intelligence, which beams from the eye and gives a peculiar radiance to the human countenance,--instead of inward joy and gladness of heart and of soul which are imparted by the knowledges of the heavenly doctrines when these become of the life and actual experience,--instead of these states of blessedness and their increase, what may be expected to happen to the man who turns his face away from the Writings, and in the idea that he knows enough ceases to read them as the source of spiritual enlightenment provided by the Lord? As surely as the night succeeds the day it will follow that the light of truth he had obtained will soon be obscured, his thoughts perverted, his mind filled with fallacies and notions, and he will then be without any rationality concerning the things of heaven and the Church.

     We are taught that the Gentiles have a greater affection for, and are more receptive of, the genuine truths of the Word, than nominal Christians. But there are Gentiles in the so-called Christian world as well as in the Pagan. Men come into a gentile state by rejecting the falses of the old church, which they perceive to be falses by their natural intelligence. Those who are in an affirmative state, and with whom falses are removed, are in due time led to a knowledge of the doctrines of the New Church.

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They are delighted with spiritual truth, because it is agreeable to their natural good; and by the reception of spiritual truth their natural good becomes spiritual, and so they become Christians.

     The Lord provides the means of salvation for all people of all the nations. He provided for the revelation of the doctrines of the New Church to the people in the interior of Africa, because they were in a state capable of receiving this Revelation. And from what is said about this in the Writings we have reason to believe that there are many at this day in the interior of "the dark continent," who have a knowledge of the heavenly doctrines and who are under the influences of the New Christian Heaven. We have no reason to doubt that the dissemination of the Doctrines among the people of that country, provided for by the Lord nearly a century and a half ago, has been progressing ever since.

     We are taught that the New Church will be established principally among the Gentiles. And further, that even at the time when the Writings were being given in Christendom, the Church was being transferred to the Gentiles; and the reason why this was being done, was because the old church had closed heaven to itself. (See A. C. 9256.)

     The time will no doubt come, in the future history of the New Church, when some men of this Church will go from Europe and America to Africa, to meet with, to become personally acquainted and to some extent associated with, some of the believers in the heavenly doctrines in the interior of Africa. And if this ever comes to pass there will be an important use in it, for which the Lord will provide.

     The Lord's New Church will continue to be built up in a quiet way, without much outward show. But there will be new things--remarkable developments--from age to age. Thus, for instance, it is a matter of great interest that in the Writings the men of the Church in Christendom are told to search for the Ancient Word, and that peradventure they will find it among the Tartars, in China.

     This seems to point to a time in the future, when the Church in Europe and in the New World of the Occident will send men on a mission to the Orient. Such a thing seems far-off and very unlikely now. But we are living in an age when tremendous forces are operating from the spiritual world into the natural; when things are being made new, even to ultimates; when great changes are being effected, and will take place, in the affairs of the governments and conditions of the nations.

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Since the Church throughout the whole world is one, it must be in the Divine Providence of the Lord that in the course of time a universal communication shall be opened and established between all the different People of the Church on the earth.

     That the doctrines and principles of the New Church will in the future serve an important part in shaping the spiritual destinies of the hundreds of millions of Gentiles in the Orient, there cannot he the slightest doubt. Among them, also, the Lord is raising up men who will become devout believers in the heavenly doctrines of the New Jerusalem, and who will some time promulgate them with zeal. The prophecies concerning the Gentiles also are being and shall be fulfilled, as where it is written: "The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light, their that dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, on them has the light shined." (Isaiah ix, 2.)

     Twenty-six years ago, in the city of Philadelphia, the Academy began the work of a Theological School. From different countries in Europe, from Canada and the United States, young men have since come to this School, to be educated for the priesthood of the Lord's New Church, to be thoroughly trained and prepared for their life's sacred calling of teaching and preaching, in their spiritual purity, the heavenly doctrines of the New Jerusalem. And is it not one of the possibilities that in the future young men, and perhaps even maidens, may come from Asia or Africa, from India, China or Japan, to be educated in the Schools of the Academy!

     I well remember coming to the beautiful New Church village of Bryn Athyn, in 1901, to attend the celebration of the Nineteenth of June, and the Philadelphia Assembly of the General Church on the next day, and afterwards the Council of the Clergy. The outside of the new College half then been about completed, and work on the interior was in progress. The fact that a building was being erected had been mentioned in the "Life:" but to find that it was so extensive, was a surprise. A view of the structure caused thoughts and sensations which it would not be easy to express or describe in words.

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It presented a striking example of an element of growth and development in the Church, from internals, which are ends, being ultimated or taking outward form in correspondence with the law of necessities, which is also the law of uses. It also reminded one of the wonderful was in which the Lord,--through men who as humble instruments delight in serving Him for the sake of the good which is to be derived by others as well as for the sake of doing what they conceive to be their duty,--provides for those things which are required to promote the establishment of His king done on the earth. Thus the thought was profoundly impressive, that when the time came that it seemed evidently desirable to take another step in advance, and to found, on a larger scale and on a New Church Educational Institution, it was possible for the means to be furnished to carry out the idea into the ultimate by the erection of buildings in every respect suitable for the purpose.

     This Body of the Church is a quietly progressive one. For the movements of the Lord's Church, as to its power in the world from the Divine, correspond, in a sense, to the silent motions of the spheres,--the mighty and glorious suns and earths of the physical universe. The movements of the Church, therefore, will be steadily forward in the way in which the Lord leads, as those who perform its uses and administer its affairs continue in the endeavor to do so in the spirit and according to the teachings of the Lord's Revelation.

     The few suggestions, then, which have been presented in this paper, may suffice to give us some additional ideas as to the manner in which the New Church grows, increases, expands its boundaries, enlarges the sphere of its activity and uses, and thus becomes the means for the enlightenment of the nations.

     When a little pebble is thrown into a lake, the circle wavelets which are produced thereby grow wider from their centre of motion and go on and on until they reach the most distant shore. This effect in nature is a correspondence of what takes place as to the spiritual state of the human mind when Divine truth is imparted to it. The results which follow the impartation of the Divine truth to the human mind continue forever.

     In the Writings we read this momentous affirmation: "Every least movement of man's life has a continuous series of consequences to eternity." (A. C. 3854.)

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Now since this also applies to the life of the composite or larger man of the Church it is evident how important it is that the movements of an organized. Body should be effected under the Divine guidance and direction, that is, according to the Divine teaching, from which alone there is derived intelligence and wisdom; because, "Except the Lord build the house, the builders thereof labor in vain." (Psalm cxxvii, 1.)

     During the past quarter of a century or more, some of us have been greatly surprised, occasionally, at the sentiments expressed in the periodicals by persons who profess to be of the New Church. We have had reason to wonder, sometimes, whether men had taken leave of their senses, or what was the matter with them. For, assertions have often been made which in the clear light of true doctrine are certainly destitute of either common sense or rationality. Assertions of this nature have been made, not by novices, but by leaders in the Church; not by mere beginners in the ministry but by men who professedly have preached in the Church for many years.

     There is not time now for me to speak specifically of cases in point and to give illustrations. But I refer to things which have been published from time to time in denial that the Writings are the Word of God, and that they are of Divine authority.

     The internal evidence of the Writings themselves, that they are the verimost Word,-the essential Divine Truth which is the Spirit and Life of the Word,--is overwhelming, conclusive and convincing to the human mind that can receive it. This being so, why is it that men who profess to believe in the Writings reject this evidence? The answer is that under the insidious influences of the spirits of the Dragon there is a state of spiritual blindness from perversity, which causes an unwillingness to see the real import of the Lord's New Revelation of the Word. These influences are directed with the utmost cunning of the infernals, in the insane endeavor to undermine and weaken and destroy the very foundations of the Church, and thus the stability of the New Christian Heaven itself!

     The relation of the Letter of the Word and the Writings to each other is simple enough to those who are willing to understand the subject, as viewed in the light of Divine Teaching.

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They are eternally one, as the body and the soul are one man. The Word is a Divine Man. The natural sense is as the body, and the spiritual sense is as the soul. It is a grievous error, yea, a monstrous perversion, to invalidate the Divine authority of the Writings by ascribing them in any respect whatever to the mind of a finite man. What sort of a Newchurchman is he who denies the Divine inspiration of the Lord's servant, Emanuel Swedenborg? Do men realize what this denial involves? They might well pause to consider that it is virtually to rob the Lord of what belongs to Him alone; and, furthermore, that it is equivalent to charging Swedenborg with the most notorious inconsistency, and with having been the greatest ecclesiastical imposter that the world has ever produced.

     Swedenborg declares that the Lord infilled him with His Spirit; that the spiritual sense of the Word was revealed by the Lord through him; that the Books were written by the Lord through him; that he has written nothing from himself, nor from any angel, but from the Lord alone; that the arcana which have been revealed by the Lord through him surpass in excellence all the arcana ever made known to men since the beginning of the world.

     Now, to one who knows the Writings, and who has become a rational New Churchman, these and all similar statements are true, without the least shadow of a doubt. But if a man denies the truth of any of these statements, what, then, must be the quality of his faith in the Heavenly Doctrines? Can that faith be genuine, or is it spurious? And what, in this case, is the basis for any real and abiding confidence in the Divine Truth of the Lord's Revelation to the New Church?

     When men, who profess to be of the Church, misrepresent and pervert and thus invalidate the Writings, as has but recently been done in the Messenger, then it is time to "sound the trumpet" in the mighty tones of truth which give warning of the dangers that threaten. It is amazing that men who ought to be faithful shepherds of Israel can be influenced by the enemies of the Lord and of heaven and the Church to publish sentiments which are subversive because they tend to the injection of doubts into the minds of the simple in faith; and thus to so scatter the sheep that they are liable to be driven into the wilderness and to be a prey to the wild beasts which, in the spiritual idea, destroy and devour.

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     One who is intelligent in the reception of the Doctrines cannot for one moment entertain the enormous notion that the Writings of the New Church are to be regarded as being "undifferentiated" from the writings of other men. But what must be the impressions upon the minds of the simple, or of novitiates, when they see this notion affirmed in a New Church paper, by the editors themselves? Will it not inevitably cause doubts, confusion of ideas, and in some cases even infestations from falses more or less grievous? If so, then incalculable injury is done to the progress, peace and prosperity of the Church.

     It is evident, therefore, that these existing conditions in the professedly, New Church demand attention from, and call for renewed zeal and watchfulness on the part of, those whose eves have been opened to see and who, according to genuine truths from Doctrine, are in any degree in the knowledge and acknowledgment of the Lord in His New Advent. It is true that the Lord, in His own loving, merciful and marvelous ways, protects His people and provides for the establishment of His Church. We may be perfectly confident and certain of this. The Divine Truth is mighty, yea, it is almighty, and will ultimately prevail.

     But we know that the Lord accomplishes His beneficent purposes by angelic means, and by human instrumentalities. And, therefore, when foes from without invade, and men within become traitors and publish treasonable utterances, then the watchman upon the walls of Zion must "blow the trumpet," so that the sound thereof may be heard distinctly, and warn the people of the spiritual danger which is at hand.

     We have good reasons for being solicitous for the spiritual protection and welfare of the Church of the New Jerusalem in the world in general, and in our own Body in particular. There is no cause to fear that in this Body the principle of distinctiveness, which was affirmed by the Academy from the beginning, will be lost sight of or fail to be faithfully maintained in the future. But it is the privilege, yea, it is the duty, and I affirm that it is the function, of the General Church of the New Jerusalem, to exert an influence which will conserve the purity and integrity of the Heavenly Doctrines, and thus aid the well-disposed and sincere to see the necessity of the distinctiveness of the Lord's New Church.

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     Happy, yea, thrice happy are they who are willing to acknowledge the Lord's goodness and mercy in all that He has done, and is ever doing, for His Church of all the ages, the New Jerusalem.



     The Bishop, in inviting discussion of the paper, noted the following important points which were covered by the presentation and which were well worthy of consideration:

     First: The New Church grows slowly, necessarily; it is visible only after it has taken place. This involves the following: 1. As long as a tree is living it is growing, which he thought points out our duty to keep even the smallest society alive if possible; and if they do keep alive they cannot but grow. 2. The Church grows slowly because it will grow forever. This is why man takes longer to develop to adult life than other animals,--because he is in a perfect form and they in an imperfect one. The form of the First Christian Church was imperfect because it was and could be only an external Church; it attained its growth in 300 years. 3. The signs of the growth of the Church may be seen. Man can know if he is making real interior effort. 4. It is according to Divine Order that growth be slow. 5. The growth is according to the growth of the affection of truth and thus according to the understanding of truth.

     Secondly: The Relation of the Church to the Gentiles. This involves the association of the New Church with those in the Gentile world. There is to be a universal communication with all when the true New Church is finally established.

     Thirdly: The Academy and its possibilities.

     Fourthly: Means and instrumentalities of growth.

     Fifthly: The General Church of the New Jerusalem.

     Sixthly: The Divine Truth in the Writings,--the grand Instrumentality of all.

     Seventhly: Things which retard the growth of the Church; under this head stands first the fundamental error concerning the Writings.

     Eighthly The importance of watchfulness and zeal, especially with the priests of the Church.

     Ninthly: The Lord will protect the Church. This is the very essential cause of its growth.

     Tenth: The Distinctiveness of the New Church.

     Mr. Jacob Stroh spoke of the intense interest of everything which tends to show what the growth of the New Church will be. The first question which rises in the mind of the beginner in the New Church, How can the Church he spread? The same spirit must he in such a church as ours. The question is. Can we wait patiently? Slow growth causes impatience. The work on Divine Providence says that the merely natural man can be confirmed in his doubts against the Divine Providence because of the obstacles to the growth of the true Church.

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It is not so very long ago that some entertained the idea of a universal Church composed of all who live a good life. But those who are in good, but not in the truths of the New Church, are not an actual part of this Church. The real New Church is of those who are conscious of it.--Mr. Synnestvedt spoke of a question put to him in private conversation, as to what the New Church would probably be like a thousand rears from now;--in an ideal state would the pastor live in a golden palace, in magnificence? He had answered, No; he would live unostentatiously he thought.--Mr. Starkey asked whether it might he inferred from the Memorabilia that the Civil head of a society would be apt to live more magnificently that the priest,--that the regal function from its nature would need to be supported by more of external impressiveness of that kind than the priestly function.--Mr. Acton, said that the paper had lifted our minds above the consideration of mere numbers, in connection with the development of the Church, to see the Church as it is in heaven, and as it must be in the hearts and minds of its members. We need not be anxious as to whether the Church be established among few or many; the Lord knows who they are who can be brought into the Church, and He will bring them in, either in this world or the other, when they are prepared. But it is a matter of anxiety to us that the Church grow and develop within ourselves--that we remove from our own hearts and minds the evils which obstruct that growth. This is the real development of the New Church, its spiritual development, and if we keep this development as our end, and work for it, we may rest content that the natural growth of the Church will come in the Lord's time; for He wills that every man--even while on earth-should come into the New Church if possible, and His Providence is continually tending to this. This conception of the development of the New Church should cheer and comfort us, confirming us in the truth that the Church is a spiritual and not a natural institution,--that its growth is a growth of thought and perception and not of numbers. And this thought will strengthen us to persevere in the endeavor to remove our own evils, that the Church may have a genuine growth within us. When we think of the numerical growth of the New Church we are apt to despair. Few are willing to enter into it: and its enemies are everywhere, and in both worlds. Even in the fold itself many are acting the parts of agents of those in the other world who are seeking to destroy the New Church,--who would lift up their voice against the Writings, insinuating a doubt not only in the minds of the simple, but in the minds of all--simple and intelligent. For anything that detracts from the Divinity of the Writings attacks the very life of the Church, which has no other foundation but the Writings. But if we look to the spiritual growth of the Church we will see comfort even here. The Lord continually works for the genuine growth of the New Church, and He uses for this purpose even the attacks made upon it. They arouse our thought and affection, they stimulate us to a clearer perception of the truth, and, if we make that truth really our own, the result must be a greater and greater growth of the Church.

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Mr. Acton spoke also of the importance of the truth that the Church grows slowly,--it is a Divine Law. The Lord could regenerate a man in a moment is it depended upon the Lord alone. But He leaves man in the utmost freedom. We, as of ourselves, have to establish the Church in ourselves, and we call do that only slowly. The Church is to be established in the fullest and greatest freedom, and therefore it grows slowly. When we examine ourselves we seem to have made very little progress: we continually encounter the same evils, and fall into the same errors, and we are prone to think we are not growing at all. We need to keep in mind the Divine Teaching, that if man only shuns evils as sins the Lord will be with him, and implant in him the loves of heaven. It is for us to continue the battle against our evils; the Lord will see to the growth of the Church, both within us and without us. The parallel of the growth of a man and of a tree is a perfect one,--in both the growth is slow, in both it is from within. In so far as the members grow in the Church from within, there will be, first, a spiritual increase, and then natural increase. We are not to be anxious about the natural increase. If the Church is truly living in the minds of its members it is growing.--Mr. N. D. Pendleton said that there is no more interesting question than the one under discussion, involving as it does the Lord Himself, and the Church, which is called His bride. It is the Lord's purpose to establish a true spiritual Church on earth. This is His purpose, and He will accomplish it. If necessary He will break down the body of this Church to which we belong. He can allow nothing to stand in the way. He proposes what is spiritual: man substitutes what is natural. This is an all-sufficient explanation of past vicissitudes,--the slow and halting growth of the Church is capable of no other. The Lord is not satisfied with that which man would make of His Church. Only that which is truly spiritual meets with His approval: wherefore that alone is allowed to endure. All else is in time broken down and cast aside. For this reason His Church must grow slowly,--very slowly. It is even so with the individual man; the Lord allows him to suffer the death of any and all natural things, if thereby something genuinely spiritual may be formed within him. The grave of man's natural ambition is the place of his spiritual brooding. The Lord's delight is in spiritual offspring. This we must see and recognize. It involves a vision of the Bride, which is a more interior vision than that of the Holy City. Concerning this true spiritual Church, well may we ask ourselves. "Do we see it?" And "have we got it?" It is given only to those who endure the trials of temptation successfully, who cling to the Church though all else fall away; who stand by faithfully through every disaster. It is the reward of a ceaseless struggle. I speak not of salvation in the ordinary sense of the word; (salvation has many modes; it is wrought in many and apparently hopeless conditions), but of the regeneration of the spiritual man, as represented by the journey from Egypt to Canaan.

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Few there be who make this journey. But to them it is given to see the vision of the Bride. With them the Lord works the accomplishment of His highest will,--His will as signified in His new Revelation of Himself. This Revelation is given that the actual things of heaven may be brought down to the earth. This heaven on earth is the spiritual church of the Lord. It alone is everlasting; all else will pass away.--Mr. Starkey spoke of the prime necessity for humility in order that there may be any true growth of the Church. We may indeed know, as the paper had said, whether not we are in such heavenly love as mutual love, in conjugial love, etc., as to their natural form, but as to how far they are spiritual with us is not known to us, except in so far as may be involved in the general teaching that man may know whether his state in general is one looking toward heaven or toward hell. The natural form is both beautiful and necessary, but unless it becomes spiritual it passes away. The point is that while we should be wholly in the affirmative attitude toward these goods as they appear in the Church we should not assume anything in regard to them, but be in the attitude of prayer that they be made spiritual by the Lord.--Mr. Acton said further that the New Church is the only spiritual Church on earth--it addresses the spiritual man and not the natural man. Other Churches say: "Don't do this, and don't do that." The New Church says--as the angels say--Whatever you do, if you do it from the Lord it will be well with you, and if not, then it will be ill with you, no matter how much of good you may do according to the world's standard of good. The New Church does not prescribe what we shall do; it speaks to the rational of man, and then leaves him in freedom to apply the truth to his natural man and to conform its acts and thoughts to the order of heaven. It is only so far as spiritual truth grows in men's minds, and as they learn in freedom to apply it to their own state, that the Church truly grows. And if we look at its growth with this idea in mind, we will see that that growth has been a substantial and a wonderful one. It matters not Whether the statistics show more or fewer members. The question is has there been a growth of thought and perception. The history of the Church shows that there has. A hundred and fifty years ago, even the most loyal members of the New Church did not see the truths of the Writings or the nature of the Church, as these can he seen now. And then think of the wonderful growth during the last twenty-five years, since the establishment of the Academy. There has been in those years a growth in perception of the spiritual things of the Church: the Lord is seen more clearly in His Revelation, and new states have been developed such as were unknown in the early days of the Church. And we may trust that growth in perception of the truth has been accompanied by a growth in spiritual life. This is the real growth of the Church: the growth to which its members should look and for which its ministers should labor. And this end makes the great distinction between the work of the New Church minister and that of all others.

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The true New Church minister looking to the development of a spiritual Church, looking to the instruction of the spiritual man, is not concerned in the mere management of men,--in forcing or persuading them to do this or that; but he is concerned in giving them spiritual instruction and in leaving them in full freedom to receive that instruction and apply it to the rational guidance of their actions. This is the work which truly promotes the growth of the Church, and, with its growth, a genuine spiritual freedom; the doing of this work is the concern, the love and, the endeavor of the faithful ministers of a spiritual Church.--Mr. Pendleton reverted to Mr. Acton's remarks and affirmed their very great value. He said: Herein lies the true fruit of our recent revolution. We have an increase in our perception of the spiritual nature of the Church and a higher ideal concerning Church government. The Academy started out with true doctrine on the subject, but after a time the thought of Church government became associated with the idea of the management of men; then, conditions and circumstances favoring, there grew up the idea of control. It was absolutely necessary that this conception, and the power of it, should be broken, in order that the true ideal of priestly government should reign, which is that of leading the perceptions of men in spiritual things, and thus of feeding them, from the Lord, with the bread of heaven.--The Bishop said that internal growth does not consist in management of men. If you put a spiritual idea in the word "governing" it is all right. Spiritual government is the leading by truth to the good of life. Management is not government in that spiritual idea. The man who feeds the Church really governs. This truth had been forced upon the speaker for several years. On the point of anxiety about the growth of the Church, he said it is a tendency with Newchurchmen to speak of what the Church will be a thousand years from now, without realizing that the ideal conditions thus entertained are only a few years ahead of them,--that the Church is already full-grown, with millions on millions of members. The idea of the Church as it is to be,--with all its magnificence and beauty,--is true of the Church in heaven now. Heaven is the New Jerusalem itself, to which all are tending who live a spiritual life; we shall soon see it if we live that which makes its glory. It is important that the false idea about the increase of the Church could be removed. From the first the Academy had realized that the growth of the Church is to be a spiritual growth, and in consequence they had not addressed themselves to the acquisition of numbers, but to the development of the internal things of the Church.--as the rearing and education of children and the fostering and development of the sphere of the Conjugial. The child that grows up in the atmosphere of a thing will love that thing when grown: if it grows up in a sphere of patriotism it will tend to love the uses of the country. Especially is this true of the Church. It is a blessing of the Divine Providence that we have been led to see this --that numbers alone would ruin the Church as it has the denominations that have sprung up in the world only to come to naught.

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Though we shall rejoice over numbers who come to the Church it will be from gladness over the real increase that is from within,--from the perfection which comes with increase of numbers, but not from numbers alone.-Mr. Bostock expressed great appreciation of what had been said as to the interior growth of the Church, and said that where people are anxious about the numerical growth of the Church their minds are drawn away from its real growth within themselves. When we think of the growth of the Church in interior life, and set our mind and heart on that, we are not only encouraged and comforted, but if we all strive for it, our effort promotes the true progress of the Church, both internal and external. We should, therefore, shun anxiety as to the external and numerical growth of the Church, as our evil, which detracts from its true and lasting progress.-Mr. Acton spoke of the recent meeting of the Missionary and Tract Society, the Report of which showed a number of smaller societies, dying or dead, for lack of ministerial leading, yet the whole meeting practically was devoted to the laudation of the project of distributing 5,000 "Silent Missionaries" (recently completed) among Old Church ministers, and only at the end of the meeting did they turn their attention to the dying societies and passed a resolution to appoint a minister to look after these struggling societies. All of which confirms the fact that the Church in general loses sight of the genuine development of the Church in turning attention chiefly to numerical increase.--Mr. Bowers in conclusion spoke appreciatively of the cheering and comforting remarks elicited by his paper.--Mr. Pitcairn said that at the conclusion of our meetings he felt impelled to say that he was never more impressed with the growth of the General Church of the New Jerusalem than at this meeting. He only wished that every member could have had the privilege of attending. He asked the Secretary pro tem. of the Executive Committee to give some information on one or two matters.

     Mr. C. H. Asplundh, secretary pro tem. for the Executive Committee, seconded Mr. Pitcairn's remarks about the privilege of being present, and said that afternoon the sphere had been almost heavenly, and would strengthen him for the work of the coming year. He then read the following resolutions adopted by the Committee during the recent sessions:

     (1) Whereas, It has pleased the Lord in His all-wise Providence to remove our dearly-beloved brother, Robert M. Glenn, to the performance of higher uses; and,

     Whereas, He has been an active member of this Committee from the organization of our body; and,

     Whereas, We desire to record our hearty appreciation of his work with and among us, and of the wise counsel which prompted his constant thought and affection he had for so many years given in the affairs that have come before us, the fruit of which counsel the Church now enjoys; now, therefore, be it

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     Resolved, That in affectionate remembrance of and as a mark of our esteem for Robert M. Glenn, this preamble and resolution be spread upon the records of this Committee, and a certified copy thereof be sent to his wife, and a copy published in New Church Life.

     (2) Whereas, The Chairman has reported that he has consulted the Bishop as to adding-Rudolph Roschman, of Berlin; Seymour G. Nelson, of Chicago; Jacob Schoenberger, of Pittsburg; Robert B. Caldwell, of Toronto, and Felix A. Boericke, of Philadelphia, to the membership of the Executive Committee, and that the Bishop has signified his approval of such addition; be it, therefore,

     Resolved, That the five gentlemen above-named be hereby chosen as members of the Executive Committee of the General Church of the New Jerusalem.

     (3) Resolved, That the Executive Committee believes it will be useful for the particular Churches to acknowledge the uses performed by the General Church, provided it does not interfere with the individual contributions from the members of the General Church, and, therefore, recommends that the particular Churches make such a contribution at least once a year.

     (4) Resolved, That the Executive Committee favors the policy of financially aiding weak and deserving societies of the General Church when the funds of the Treasury warrant the same; but there are at present no funds available for that purpose.

     Rev. Homer Synnestvedt asked for the floor in order to give utterance before this body to a tribute to the memory of our beloved brother, Henry Benade Cowley, who passed from among us last December. Mr. Synnestvedt spoke of Mr. Cowley's work, and said that he was simply full of love to the Church; the quality of his love was as nearly perfect as we ever see in this world: The speaker felt as if his sphere, and Mr. Glenn's, had been with them that day, and contributed to the warm and interior quality of the occasion.

     Rev. N. D. Pendleton spoke with warm appreciation, and from the heart, of the hospitality of the Carmel Church in entertaining the Joint Councils, and of the love for the Church which so manifestly gave duality to their natural hospitality.-

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Mr. Richard Roschman, of the Carmel Church, spoke with emotion as he testified to what the Society had gained from the meetings. He could not express his feelings at the picture of the New Church which had been brought before them on that day, I and felt that it had brought them all a blessing which would bear its fruit in increased devotion to the spiritual things of the Church.

     The meeting adjourned, and the bishop pronounced the benediction.

     On Friday evening there was held a Men's Meeting, which was attended by about eighty-five, and which proved very instructive as well as enjoyable.

     No record was kept of the attendance in toto, but at the afternoon meetings it was on an average about sixty, and in the evenings about eighty-five.
COUNCIL OF THE CLERGY 1902

COUNCIL OF THE CLERGY       Various       1902

SATURDAY MORNING, JUNE 28TH.

     The subjects considered by the Council of the Clergy at the session of Saturday morning were: (1) Teaching the Literal Sense of the Word in New Church Schools by Teachers who are not ministers; (2) The Usefulness of having a simple Pastor's Robe for use in Doctrinal Classes and similar Ordinary Occasions; and (3) The Service in the New Liturgy now in preparation.

     This closed the meetings.

TREASURER'S ANNUAL REPORT.

     To the Chairman and Members of the Executive Committee of The General Church of the New Jerusalem.

     I take pleasure in presenting herewith the financial report of The General Church of the New Jerusalem for the fiscal year 1901 and 1902.

     The contributions during the year have amounted to $2851.37 against $2724.71 last year, or an increase of $126.66.

     There has been an increase in contributions from Colorado, Georgia, Chicago, Pittsburg, Bryn Athyn, Baltimore and Toronto. Contributions have been received from 169 people during the year, as against 166 the year previous; but there are still many members who have not yet contributed to the Treasurer.

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     The expenses during the year, not including New Church Life, have been $2359.51. The expense of publishing New Church Life including Editors' salaries, has been $1715.61, but this includes thirteen months. Deducting the one issue, June, 1901, the cost for twelve issues has been $1650.99. Towards covering this there has been received from subscribers, $496.19, and from The Academy of the New Church, $1000.00. The deficiency for the 12 months, amounting to $153.80, as well as for the issue of June, 1901, amounting to $64.62, has been covered from the general fund.

     The present number of paying subscribers to New Church Life is 539, of which 83 are foreign, that is, not residing in the United States or Canada. During the past year seventy new names have been added to the mail list, but 63 mere dropped: of these latter, 22 were foreign, which probably were discontinued owing to unsatisfactory business representation in England. It is to be hoped that under the management of our new agency in London some of these will resume their subscriptions.

     This annual report it is gratifying to state is the best ever presented to the Church since the publication of the Life was undertaken. From the Quarterly Report, which also will be presented to this meeting, you will notice that the usual deficiency is absent. There will be, however, some bills due on the first of next month, but the Treasurer hopes that some contributions will be received to meet these bills.

     The Treasurer issued an appeal to all members on January 15th, asking for a more general support, and he is happy to state that there was a very prompt response to the call, as may have been noticed from the extra large quarterly report of April 1st.

     If the members would all bear in mind to make their contributions at regular intervals, the deficiency would no doubt remain absent. A very important use of these quarterly reports is to remind all members that have not contributed during the past quarter, to do so without delay. Prompt and systematic payments are essential in business. Why should not the members of the Church exercise the same attention when they receive the statement concerning our church organization? We believe that all members have an interest in the welfare of our Body, but this interest needs to be ultimated, and one way to do this effectively is to contribute at least once a pear, though it would probably be more convenient to do so once every quarter or every month. It is the regular and constant support, no matter how small, that is the backbone of our finances.

     There are some uses of the General Church which are inadequately supported, as for instance the missionary work and the Life, the latter is principally supported by The Academy of the New Church, but the time must soon come when the General Growth will have to support its own organ, as the demands on the Academy for its educational purposes may not warrant the continuance of the aid indefinitely.

     With the present promising condition of the finances of the General Church the Treasurer hopes that the members will feel encouraged, and that those who have been the supporters will continue, and that all others may see the importance of not delaying any longer in order that the General Church may be established on a better financial basis. Respectfully submitted, CARL HJ. ASPLUNDH. Bryn Athyn, Pa., June 19th, 1902.

524




     THE GENERAL CHURCH OF TKE NEW JERUSALEM.

TREASURER'S ANNUAL STATEMENT.

From June 25, 1901, to June 17, 1902.

     RECEIPTS.
Balance on hand, June 25th, 1901                    $51.49
Received from:--
Cal.--Ontario                         9.25          
Col.--Denver                         50.01
Ga.--Atlanta                         1.00
Ga.--Valdosta                         60.00
Conn.--Hartford                         5.00
Ill.--Chicago and Glenview               146.15 Ill.--Rockford                         15.00
Ill.--Sandoval                         4.00
Kan.--Lindsborg                         1.02
Md.--Baltimore                         19.25
Neb.--Omaha                              3.00
New Mexico--Chama                         1.00
N. Y.-New York and Brooklyn               37.00
N. Y.--Rochester                         3.00
Ohio.--Columbiana                         11.00
Ohio--Given                              30.00
Ohio--Greenford                         20.00
Ohio--Middleport                         18.16
Penn.--Allentown                         22.50
Penn.--Allegheny                         5.00
Penn.-Bryn Athyn                         1667.50
Penn.--Harrisburg                         16.00
Penn.--Erie                              29.00
Penn.--North Bend                         2.00
Penn.--Philadelphia                    186.25
Penn--Pittsburg                         261.22
Penn.--Renovo                         .50
Texas--Houston                         25.00
Canada--Berlin and Waterloo               132.77
Canada-Londesboro                         1.00
Canada.--Milverton                    2.00


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Canada--Toronto                         48.05
England--London                         13.74
Isolated Members                         5.00

     Total Subscriptions                              2902.86
New Church Life Subscriptions                              469.19
Aid from the Academy of the Church                          1000.00
                                                  4399.95

     EXPENDITURES

Bishop's Salary                         $2000.00
Bishop's Secretary's Salary               183.35
Printing Reports, Circulars, etc.          25.00
Postage and Stationery                     30.19
Traveling Expenses, Chicago, Denver, Pittsburg
and Toronto                              180.00
Directory                              27.32
Liturgical Services                    13.15
Rent of mail box                         .50
                                                  2459.51

     Missionary Work-
Rev. J. E. Rowers                         150.00
New Church Life                         
Editors' Salaries                         518.33
Printing, inc. Mailing, etc.               976.09
Frontispiece March issue                11.00
Traveling exp. to printer               5.05
Paper and Cover-paper                    138.51
Stationery                              5.50
Envelopes for mailing Life               9.00
Expressage                              1.62
Postage on bills and receipts               33.50
Reporting, Convention proceedings          17.01
                                                  1715.61
                                                  4325.12
Balance on hand                                        73.93
                                                  4399.05
Carl Hj. Asplundh, Treasurer

     Examined and found correct
R. CARSWELL, Auditing Committee
RICHARD ROSCHMAN,

526




     THE ORPHANAGE.

REPORT OF THE TREASURER.

Receipts.

1901. Bryn Athyn, Pa                         28.50
1902. Berlin and Waterloo, Ont., Can.          12.25
          Glenview, Ill.                         1.80
          Bryn Athyn, Pa                         60.79
          New York                              34.07
          Previously received                    288.09
Interest                                   14.80
Total                                                  440.30

     The above amount is on deposit in the Atlantic Trust Company of New York City. WALTER C. CHILDS, Treasurer.

     STATISTICAL TABLE.
          
General Church of the New Jerusalem, 1902.

Societies.               Pastor.                    Members.     Average                                                             Attendance.
Allentown, Pa.          Rev. A. Acton*               11               12
Baltimore, Md.          Rev. H. Synnestvedt*          14               13
Berlin, Ont., Can.     Rev. Fred. E. Waelchli          61               80
Brooklyn, N. Y.          Rev. A. Acton*               7               7
Bryn Athyn, Pa.          Rev. H Synnestvedt          87               119     
Chicago and Glenview, Ill.     Rev. N. D. Pendleton     84
Colchester, Eng.           Rev. A. Czerny*                17               44
Denver, Col.          Rev. R. DeCharms                13               8
Erie, Pa.                                        12               20
London, Eng.          Rev. A. Czerny               13               36
Middleport. O.          Rev. David H. Klein          25               38
Parkdale. Ont., Can.      Rev. Edward S. Hyatt          32               45
Philadelphia, Pa.      Rev. Emil R. Cronlund.          30               27
Pittsburg, Pa.          Rev. R. W. Brown               55               53
Isolated Members                                   154

     Total                                        615               482
*Visiting Pastor

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     THE CLERGY OF THE General Church of the New Jerusalem, 1902.

     BISHOP.                                   Ordained
                         Licensed          2d Degree          3d Degree
Rev. William F. Pendleton,
Bryn Athyn, Pa.               May, 1872           Sept. 3, 1873      May 9, 1888

     PASTORS.                         1st Degree          2d Degree
Rev. Leonard G. Jordan, Oakland, Cal.     June 6, 1869     June 6, 1869
Rev. John E. Bowers, Toronto, Can.          May 11, 1873     May 11, 1873
Rev. Richard deCharms, Denver, Col.                         Jan. 21, 1877
Rev. Edward C. Bostock, Bryn Athyn, Pa.     June 6, 1880     Sept. 6, 1885
Rev. Andrew Czerny, London, Eng.          June 10, 1883     Mar. 21, 1886
Rev. Enoch S. Price, Bryn Athyn, Pa.     June 10, 1888     June 19, 1891
Rev. Carl Theo. Odhner, Bryn Athyn, Pa.     June 10, 1888     June 19, 1891
Rev. Fred. E. Waelchli, Berlin, Can.     June 10, 1888     June 19, 1891
Rev. Edward S. Hyatt, Toronto, Can.          June 10, 1888     June 30, 1889
Rev. N. Dandridge Pendleton, Glenview, Ill. June 16, 1889     Mar. 2, 1891
Rev. Homer Synnestvedt, Bryn Athyn, Pa.     June 19, 1891     Jan. 13, 1895
Rev. Alfred Acton, Bryn Athyn, Pa.          June 4, 1893     Jan. 10, 1897
Rev. Richard H. Keep, Atlanta, Ga.          June 27, 1897     May 22, 1898
Rev. Charles E. Doering, Bryn Athyn, Pa.     June 7, 1896     Jan. 29, 1899
Rev. Emil Cronlund, Philadelphia, Pa.     Dec. 31, 1899     May 18, 1902
Rev. David H. Klein, Middleport, O.          June 26, 1898     Oct. 27, 1902

     MINISTERS.
Rev. George G. Starkey, Bryn Athyn, Pa.     June 3, 1894
Rev. Ernest J. Stebbing, Berlin, Can.     June 26, 1898
Rev. Reginald W. Brown, Pittsburg, Pa..     Oct. 21, 1901

     CANDIDATES.                              Authorized
Mr. William R. Caldwell, Baltimore, Md.          June 7, 1900
Mr. Alfred H. Stroh, Bryn Athyn, Pa.          June 7, 1900


528




THE FIRST ASSEMBLY OF THE GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM IN GREAT BRITAIN.

     THE First Assembly of the members and friends of the General Church in Great Britain was held in Brixton Hall, London, on Saturday and Sunday, May 24th and 25th, 1902.

     The meetings were well attended and there was abundant evidence that conditions exist for the building up of the Church on a sounder and more rational basis than it has been hitherto.

     The meetings were opened on Saturday at 5 P. M. by the Rev. E. C. Bostock, of Bryn Athyn, Pa., who delivered an address* to an audience of about sixty persons.
     * The Address will be published in the October number of the Life.

     Mr. Bostock, after calling attention to the necessity of organization in the establishment of the Church, briefly recounted the leading doctrines held by the General Church, laying especial stress on the undoubting acknowledgment of the Divine Authority of the Writings, as the raison d'etre of the General Church.

     After the conclusion of his address, Mr. Bostock read the following letter from Bishop Pendleton:

     "I am glad to learn from your letter of April 30th that the time has been fixed for an Assembly of the members of the General Church of the New Jerusalem in England, to be held in London on May 24th and 25th.

     "I take pleasure in presenting, through you, to the Assembly, the greeting and congratulations of the members of the General Church in America.

     "May this meeting be the first of a series that will extend into coming generations, the beginning of an increase that will go on growing and expanding in all time to come, the means of untold blessing to the Lord's New Church on the earth. And I pray for the Lord's presence in your deliberations, to lead and guide in the way of truth to the good of His kingdom in heaven and upon earth. The Lord be with you." Sincerely and affectionately, yours in the Lord's New Church.
W. F. PENDLETON.

     Mr. Bostock then announced that the meeting was now open for the discussion of the address, or of any other subject that might be desired.

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     Mr. Bedwell (Colchester) expressed his appreciation of the address and his hope that the meeting would prove a blessing to the Church.

     Mr. Appleton (Colchester) said: "I feel greatly blessed to have been present and to listen to those beautiful truths relative to the building up of the Church. We have passed through much in the past, both in London and at Colchester, which has tended to rend asunder the Church rather than to build it up. The truths we have heard today indicate the lines upon which the Church must be built up.

     "There is the greatest necessity for us to work together, both in connection with the Church and the schools.

     "I believe the time has come when we may hope to establish schools in other centers that our children may be kept in the sphere of the Church and that the great love of all loves may be developed in our midst."

     *The Address will be published in the October number of the Life.

     Rev. A. Crezny: "I have been much impressed by the address and by the remarks of our friends.

     "There can be no two opinions of the great use in coming together in this way. The great question of Education and Instruction in Worship will never be exhausted; there is always something to add and something to learn. The uses you have outlined in your address must be performed in the Church, or the Church cannot be built up.

     "There is no other way to build up the Church; there are all sorts of fantastical notions as to how it should be done, but the only sure way is to take the Writings as a basis."

     After some remarks from other friends the meeting adjourned for tea.

     On reassembling Mr. Bostock said:

     "It has been suggested by one of the friends that we consider the question, 'In what sense is the priesthood the first of the Church?'"

     Mr. Dicks (London) thought that teaching as to the true meaning of the statement regarding the priesthood would be of great use.

     It was decided to consider this subject. Mr. Bostock then vacated the chair in favor of Mr. Czerny, and spoke as follows:

     "I suppose this question arises in the minds of some because of late years so much has been said about the priesthood being the first of the Church, until some have begun to wonder if the priesthood is not the whole of the Church (Hear! Hear!). My remembrance of the statement is that it occurs incidentally where some other subject is treated of. However there is a sense in which the priesthood is the first of the Church.

     "In the highest and real sense the LORD is the only Priest. He is called Priest from His Divine Love of saving souls. He is the First of the Church. Then the First of the Church from Him is the Divine Truth by which He instructs and establishes the Church. Now the office of the priesthood is the first of the Church in this sense, that it is the use of priests to teach truths and to lead thereby to the good of life; thus the Church begins from the use of the priesthood. In other words, it is an absolutely essential office of the Church.

530




     "But priests are in no sense to be arbitrary rulers over the Church, nor is there to be a High Priest, who is to be the sole interpreter of the Word to the Church.

     "The Word is the governor and Divine Truths are to be seen by the members of the Church.

     "There is a great deal of teaching in the Doctrines on the subject of the priesthood, and I could quote many passages teaching that 'they are governors,' etc., but there is another side which seems more important to be brought forward at the present time, and I will quote a few numbers which appear to me to show the true relation of the laity and the priesthood.

     "This relation is not one of blind obedience, but of acknowledgment of the use, and of appreciation of the necessity for bishop and priest to be in freedom in the performance of the use, and at the same time of obedience according to the Word.

     "In the True Christian Religion, 415, after teaching that the Church and the Lord's kingdom are to be loved in the highest degree, it says:

     "'It is not meant that the priesthood is to be loved in a higher degree, and from it the Church; but that the good and truth of the Church are to be loved, and the priesthood for their sake; this only serves, and just as it serves, it is to be honored.'

     "We should honor the priests when we see that they love these truths and teach them for the sake of leading to the good of life. It is only by virtue of such service that the priests have any claim to honor and obedience from the laity."

     Mr. Bostock then read from the Apocalypse Revealed, 742, where it is taught that the French nation acknowledged the Pope as the head of the Church. but that his government is not like that of the head over the body, "but from God through the Word, and that it is thus to be obeyed; consequently that the interpretation of the Word does not belong to his arbitrary determination alone, as has come to pass: because thus the Divine Authority of the Word is perverted and perishes." Mr. Bostock continued: "Of course. the Church is to obey its head and follow his lead, but the chief priest is not the head that should rule from himself, but from the Word and according to the Word, and is to be obeyed according to this.

     "It is said in the Writings that there are no archangels in heaven, and that there, although there are superior and inferior governors, 'no one in his heart acknowledges anyone above himself, but the Lord alone.' A. E. 735

     "This at first sight may seem a startling statement, but it does not mean that we are not to acknowledge others to be wiser than ourselves, nor that we are not to subordinate ourselves to others. It means that there is no other spiritual guide and authority than the Lord alone. We ought to be humble, and if we shun evils as sins against God we shall be humble, but at the same time we must see that the teaching is the Lord's before we receive it as our own; thus we receive nothing spiritual on the authority of any man."

531




     Mr. Bostock then read Arcana Coelestia, 3670 and 5323, concerning the representation of priests and kings by virtue of their use in the administration and guardianship of the Divine and Civil Laws, in one of which it is said,--of priest and king: "In proportion as he does evil, that is acts contrary to what is just and equal and contrary to what is good and true, in the same proportion a king puts off the representation of holy royalty, and a priest the representation of holy priesthood, and represents the opposite."

     He then continued: "I understand the teaching to be that whatever the character of the priest may be, provided it be not openly evil, that this does not affect his representative character so long as he teaches what is true and does what is just and equal in the administration of his office; but if in his office he departs from what is just and equal, or what is good and true, by teaching what is false or doing what is evil, then he puts off the representation of the Lord and represents the devil. That neither the devil nor his representative is to be obeyed is manifest.

     "To illustrate, suppose that in the Holy Supper a priest administers grape juice or raisin-water instead of wine, then in that administration he does not represent the Lord, because he does not obey the Lord.

     "So also in his function of governor if a priest acts the part of a tyrant he ceases to represent the Lord and represents the opposite.

     "The same principle applies to kings, viz., they are both guardians of the Law,--the priest of the Divine Law,-the King of the Laws of his Kingdom,--and each represents the Lord when he performs his use according to the Law and is then to be obeyed."

     Mr. J. Waters (London): "I should like to give my word of appreciation of the address Mr. Bostock has just given us. It is based upon those Writings which I believe are to us the law; that is, they are an exposition of the Word itself. They tell us that we must not take the word of a priest or of any man in authority merely because he says it, but that we must go to the Word to confirm and support the truth. If we continue to do this in respect to every subject of this life, we shall advance step by step with greater confidence; and shall be bound together for our uses in life, which will be more faithfully performed. I thank Mr. Bostock most sincerely for having put this great question so clearly before us."

     Mr. Ball (London): "I am much pleased at the very plain and outspoken way in which you have explained the teaching. If these Truths had always so been placed before us, we might have been saved from a good deal of our painful experiences."

     Mr. McQueen (London): "If it is in order I would like Mr. Bostock to define the change which has taken place in regard to government since the formation of the General Church."

     Mr. Bostock: "In order to answer this question I must say a word or two on government by conscience. Before the change there was an effort, and it prevailed to a considerable extent, to put upon the conscience of the Church, a belief that there was no way and no right to remove the Bishop from his office as Bishop of the General Church, and that the only recourse was for the individuals to leave the general body.

532


That idea is not now upon the conscience of the General Church.

     "When Mr. Pendleton was invited to become bishop of the General Church it was understood and acknowledged that should the Church lose confidence in him, the invitation given could be withdrawn and a new bishop could be chosen without dissolving the whole body, as had to be done before.

     "This is very important, for the Church must be governed by its conscience and can only be led in freedom as a true conscience is established. The Roman Catholics have dominion by the establishment of a false conscience.

     Mr. R. M. Anderson (London): "I have been exceedingly pleased with Mr. Bostock's remarks on the priesthood. I have a question to put on quite an external matter. It refers to the ceremonial of rising at the entrance of the priest. I think it would be preferable to rise at the opening of the Word. It used to be so, and I would like to ask the reason for the alteration."

     Mr. Bostock: "The idea of rising at the entrance of the priest is from the representation of the priest. The priest represents the Lord come to open His Word. If you put the right idea into it, it is all right.

     Mr. Czerny: "It is very important for us to keep our thoughts off the person of the priest as much as possible. The Lord ought to be the only person before us. The priest when he enters represents the Lord Himself."

     From 7 P. M. to 10 P. M. a social was held, which gave the members of the Church in London an opportunity of welcoming quite a number of friends from the Colchester Society.

     On Sunday morning Divine Service was held and the Holy Supper was administered.

     On Sunday evening at 5:30 the meeting reassembled and the Rev. Andrew Czerny delivered an address* on New Church Education.

     He called attention to the fact that the New Church alone has knowledge of the truth that man has an Internal Mind as well as an External Mind, and that this mind must be educated in order that man may be truly rational. The Old Church and the world confine education to the external mind and do not develop the Spiritual Mind or the true Rational. They develop a sort of natural rational which is more properly a faculty of ratiocination, which is chiefly used to reason against the truth.

533


There can be no true education without the cultivation of spiritual affection, and this cannot be done except in the New Church alone, to any adequate degree."

     Mr. Bostock: "I have a few thoughts I would like to present on the subject of New Church Education. First: The school is not the only means of New Church Education. There is the Church, the home, the social environment, books and the business environment. We must not forget any of these means of New Church Education. We must strive to use them all, or as many of them as possible. The Church, by its externals of worship, is a very potent means of New Church Education. We must not neglect these, but strive to bring up our children under their influence.

     "Then there is the New Church home. Parents have a duty in the home. They cannot neglect the home and think their children are getting a New Church Education because they attend a New Church school.

     "We must be real New Church people in our homes, by which I do not mean that we must take some little interest in the Church, but I mean that as New Church people we should regard the Church as the first thing in our own and in our children's lives. Let the Church be the first thing in your own affection; let that be your first end and it will impress itself upon the life of your home and be the means of implanting invaluable remains in the minds of your children.

     "Social environment is an important means in the education of our children. This we cannot always control, but we can endeavor to control it. We should make every effort to keep our children in a social environment where the Lord is worshipped and where there are other children who are being brought up in the same sphere.

     "If our children and young men are associated with those who love only the world and self and look only to worldly success and pleasure, they will surely be affected.

     "Then there is business environment. Here again we have less control, but we must do the best we can to put our young men and boys in as good relations as possible.

     "Then there are the books they read. Books are another potent means of education. Children and young people read all kinds of books--many of which insinuate things contrary to conjugial love. We should do our best to provide the young with good books suitable to their age, as a means to their education.

     "I have called your attention to these various means to a New Church Education for two reasons. One is to lead thee who live where there is a New Church school to realize that the school is only one element in the education of their children, and that they must not think their children are getting a New Church Education, if they neglect the other means, simply because they attend a New Church school.

     "The other is that those who, in the Providence of the Lord, cannot have the privilege of a New Church school, may not give up the idea of a New Church Education for their children. See that you use all means that the Lord puts in your power and your children will grow up in the Church."

534




     Various members made remarks on the subject of New Church Education and its various phases, and then, on motion of Rev. A. Czerny, it was decided to discuss the desirability of holding an annual District Assembly.

     Mr. Denney (London), in supporting the proposition, said: "I think an annual meeting of those who receive the Writings of the Church, even if they do not belong to the same organization, will be of distinct use. I say this from the influence I have felt from the present meeting. The meeting has been of distinct use to me, and I can see that it is quite necessary that those who hold the Doctrines should meet together for mutual edification."

     Messrs. Cooper; Morris, Appletort, Elphick, McQueen, Anderson, and Waters expressed their delight with the present meeting and their desire for an annual meeting.

     Mr. Morris asked: "What is our position with regard to Bishop Pendleton, and in what relation does he stand to the proposed Assemblies?"

     Mr. Bostock replied: "The District Assembly will be under the Bishop of the General Church until this country can have a Bishop of its own. The Bishop would he superintendent and adviser, and might come over and preside at some of its meetings." (Loud Applause).

     On motion of Mr. Morris, seconded by Mr. Stebbing, it was decided that this annual Assembly be known as "The Assembly of the General Church of the New Jerusalem in Great Britain."

     Mr. Bostock, in the name of the Bishop, appointed Mr. Czerny to act as Secretary of the Assembly.

     The Assembly then adjourned. A social followed, at which those present expressed their best thanks and heartfelt appreciation to the General Church in America for the valuable help rendered to the Church in Great Britain.

     They also requested Mr. Bostock to convey to Bishop Pendleton hearty greetings from all, and their appreciation of Mr. Bostock's work and that of the Rev. Andrew Czerny.

     A farewell social was given to Mr. Bostock on Friday evening, at which nearly every member of the society was present, and Mr. Bostock left us on Saturday morning amid the cheers of friends who have most thoroughly appreciated his visit and who one and all regard it as of the greatest use to the Church in Great Britain. JOHN MORRIS, Secretary.

535


Editorial Department 1902

Editorial Department       Editor       1902

     THE BERLIN MEETINGS.

     The present issue of the Life comes out as a double number. As our readers will doubtless surmise, this was rendered advisable by the length of the report of the Berlin meeting. It was thought better to issue the report as a whole, rather than that the readers of the Life should be kept waiting a month for the conclusion; and this, even though it unavoidably involved delaying the present issue.

     The meetings were pronounced by all who attended them to have been very successful. The tone which predominated was more spiritual and intellectual than social, though pleasant social features were by no means lacking. The papers which were read introduced some serious discussions and suggested new and varied lines of thought. It was almost inevitable that the discussions touched only on one or two of the points raised in the papers, for it is not often that all such points can be covered in a meeting of short duration. A striking instance of this was the discussion of the Bishop's address on Unity. That discussion dwelt almost altogether on the relations between the General Church and the Convention. But in the address itself that phase of the subject was only incidentally suggested by the line of thought taken up. The main subject was the spiritual and internal unity which should exist between the members of our Church--united as they are by the bonds of a common acknowledgment of the Lord in His Second Coming. And from this the Bishop deduced the necessity of having in the Church, as far as possible, external unanimity in our actions as an organized body. The leading thought was that we should have confidence in each other, involving tolerance and patience and the desire to wait in our actions until we can act unanimously. This line of thought was barely touched on in the discussion. And yet it is one of the utmost interest and importance to the Church. It involves the rule of unanimity, somewhat as it obtained in the early days of the Academy, and as it has been retained, in practice if not in theory, in the General Church, as opposed to the rule of majority or minority. That we should act unanimously, goes without saying: but how best to attain such unanimity is a question which will bear much consideration. We would commend the paper to the earnest consideration of all our readers, for it is necessary to the real growth of our Church that the principles governing its organization and actions should he rationally discussed and understood.

     The paper which suggested the newest line of thought was, perhaps, that by Mr. N. D. Pendleton on the Miracles and Historicals of the Word.

536


The paper dealt with a phase of the subject which has not often been discussed by us, and not at all on the lines suggested. The discussion was, therefore, necessarily of a tentative character, though it was quite evident that there was substantial agreement with the paper. It was an attempt to approach the questions raised by "higher" criticism from the standpoint of the internal sense of the Word--to take a rational view of the historical contradictions and discrepancies which undoubtedly occur at times in the Letter of the Word. As Mr. Pendleton pointed out in his remarks concluding the discussion, all revelation is Divine Perfection clothed with human imperfection. We should say that the phrase would have been more expressive of the truth if it had been, all Revelation is Divine Perfection Divinely or Perfectly clothed with human imperfection. However, as was pointed out, a just view of the "human imperfections" can never be obtained except from a perception of the Divine Perfection which thus manifests itself.


     By unanimous consent, the meeting on Friday afternoon, when the Growth of the Church was the subject of discussion, was the most interesting of all the meetings; and, curiously enough, it was perhaps less well attended than any of the others. Those who were present were all pleased with the fact that the Bishop followed the reading of Mr. Bowers' paper with a brief statement of its contents. This presented in a concrete way the various points brought up for discussion and contributed in no small degree to the success of the discussion. As that discussion progressed, the thought and affection became elevated and there seemed to be a fuller and clearer perception of the spiritual nature of the New Church and of the Lord's care for that Church. The question of numbers became of secondary importance and the attention was fixed on the genuine quality of the Church and its substantial growth as a spiritual body. The thought was directed to the New Church in the other world,--to the multitudes who form the New Heaven. There lies the future of the New Church and its growth: its progress on earth is but a manifestation of the growth in Heaven. The elevated sphere of the meeting and the discussion led one of the speakers to say that he saw more clearly than ever before that the New Church had made real progress. And undoubtedly this is true. It has grown as a spiritual Church on earth; there is a clearer perception of the Lord in His Coming and a fuller knowledge of the truths He has revealed: and this is real growth. Whether we have grown with the Church, is a question each one must answer for himself. We can grow in and with the Church only so far as we become one with the spiritual
Church in Heaven.



     The social features of the meetings were the general social on Wednesday evening and the men's meeting on Friday evening, not to mention the innumerable more or less private social pleasures involved in the reunion of old friends, which were not the least contributors to the enjoyments of the meetings.

537


The general social was the occasion for a toast of good-will and congratulation to the bishop-elect, Rev. E. C. Bostock. In his answer, Mr. Bostock, while recognizing that his ordination would not of itself involve any official position in the government of the Church, showed a true appreciation of the office into which he was to be introduced, as enlarging his sphere of usefulness. As he said, he did not wish to be a merely ornamental bishop; nor, we may add, does the Church either wish it or expect it. Mr. Bostock's work in the past gives too much promise of his usefulness in the future for any such thought to be entertained for a moment. The Church will greatly benefit from Mr. Bostock's ordination into the third degree, for, what with the Church-work and the work of Education, the field of work for a minister of the third degree is a wider one, even in these days of small things, than can be well covered by one man. The Life extends to Mr. Bostock its hearty congratulations of good-will.



     The toast to the Academy roused a great deal of enthusiasm, as is usually the case when the Academy is the toast. It is not so much the Academy as a body of men that calls forth the affection and enthusiasm on these occasions; it is what the Academy represents,--the loyal and unfaltering acceptance of the Writings as the Divinely revealed Word, an acceptance which distinguishes the General Church from all other bodies of the New Church, and which to its members really makes the New Church. It is the thought of this that rouses our affections and enkindles our enthusiasm for the men whom the Lord has raised up to proclaim the saving truth of the New Church. Bishop Pendleton, in his response to the toast, did not dwell on the past work of the Academy, but went at once to a hoped-for development of the near future. This consists of the proposed opening next Fall of a class for those proposing to be teachers in New Church schools. Such a class will, as the Bishop pointed out, go a long way in furthering the work of New Church Education.



     The men's meeting devoted itself for the first part of the evening to a consideration of recent events arising from the attitude taken by members of the Convention towards the Academy because of its acceptance of the latter part of Conjugial Love. After this, those present sat down to a bounteous supper provided by the Berlin Society and had a most delightful social evening. It would be impossible to reproduce even the outlines of the many excellent speeches that were made or to give an idea of the sphere that prevailed. We shall have to leave this to the imagination of those who have already attended men's meetings in the General Church, and content ourselves with saying that the Berlin meeting well sustained the reputation of its predecessors.

     After the meeting of the Councils came a two-days' meeting of the Teachers' Institute. This was the longest and also the most successful meeting which the Institute has held, and it gives promise of good results in the advancement of the work of Education. The main subject of discussion was the Curriculum. There was an evident desire to unify the work of education by bringing about closer relations between the College and the various local schools, especially in the direction of continuity of studies.

538


At the same time there was a general recognition of the fact that in the different centers there are varying local conditions which have more or less influence on the work of the schools there, and the desire was expressed that efforts be made to meet these conditions so far as this could be done without sacrificing anything of the peculiar quality of Academy Education, or of the unity of our work; for, as more than one of the speakers said, our education, from the very beginning, must have in view the preparation of our scholars for admission to the Academy College. The result of the discussion was the appointment of a committee consisting of all the Headmasters, with Mr. Price as chairman, to consider the whole question of Curriculum and to report next year. While we cannot predict the nature of the committee's report, we can safely assert that its effect will be to bring about a closer union between the College and the local schools, and to make the work of Education more and more a single and distinctive branch of our Church work.



     The Institute also had its public meetings. There were three such meetings, at which were discussed, respectively, the President's Address, the teaching of Swedenborg's Science in our schools and the relations between parents and teachers. The discussion on Swedenborg's Science resolved itself into a discussion of the theory of man's creation as laid down in The Worship, and Love of God. There seemed to be almost as many opinions of this theory as there were speakers. One accepted it in toto as a "scientific fact;" another accepted it in part, rejecting the idea of a physical connection between man and a tree; another accepted the theory merely as an allegory, but rejected it as a statement of the actual process of creation; while still another was non-committal. An interesting point was raised by Mr. Waelchli, as to when, in view of its apparent discrepancy with the account of creation as given in Genesis, Swedenborg's theory should be taught to children. But owing, doubtless, to the fact that there was so much difference of opinion as to the theory itself, the point did not receive much attention from the different speakers.



     The last public meeting listened to a paper by Mr. Synnestvedt on the relation between parents and teachers. The discussion of this paper was extremely interesting and was taken part in by several of the laymen. The burden of both paper and discussion was that the relation between parents and teachers is one of mutual recognition of each other's use and a common recognition of the end and purpose of New Church Education. The discussion turned also upon the necessity of mutual forbearance. As one of the speakers said, it is one of the most unpleasant things a teacher has to do to point out to a parent the shortcomings of his child; but as remarked by the President,--and his words received hearty applause,--it is only New Church Teachers that are blessed in having to deal with New Church parents.

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Church News 1902

Church News       Various       1902

     FROM OUR CONTEMPORARIES.

     UNITED STATES. The society in Fryeburg, Me., celebrated its 25th anniversary on June 3d, when historical reminiscences were the order of the day. A substantial gift of money was presented to the pastor, the Rev. B. N. Stone, and his wife, whose marriage anniversary occurred on the same day.

     The closing exercises of the Convention's Theological School in Cambridge, Mass., were held on June 18th, Mr. John C. Hunter and Mr. Herbert C. Small receiving certificates of graduation. Mr. Hunter read an essay on "The Relation of Soul and Body," in which he brought prominently to view the teaching in Swedenborg's Economy of the Animal Kingdom concerning the part played by the spirituous fluid or animal spirit as the agent of the soul in the body. Mr. Small's essay was on the subject of "How shall we think of God?" Mr. Hunter has accepted pastoral charge of the Second New Church Society in Toledo, O., and Mr. Small is to begin his ministerial work in Olney. Ill.

     The Rev. T. F. Wright, who is president of the Convention's Board of Home and Foreign Missions, left Cambridge on July 22d, for a year's visit to Europe and the Orient. It is his intention, while on his journey, to pay a visit to each of the New Church missionary stations on the Continent.

     At the recent installation of the Unitarian minister at Elmwood, Mass., the "address of welcome" was delivered by the resident New Church minister, the Rev. Clarence Lathbury, and was received with great appreciation. Thus the leaven of Arianism is working in the Convention, one of its ministers openly welcoming the denial of the Lord's divinity!

     "The New Church Educational Association" was organized at Orange, N. J., on June 25th, and has been incorporated under the laws of New Jersey. The Rev. Adolph Roeder is the president of this new body, and the Rev. C. J. Mann, general secretary. The objects of the body are the free distribution of New Church tracts and literature, and the Theological instruction, by means of a Correspondence-school, of new receivers of the Doctrines, especially clergymen in the Old Church. All this is to be done independently of any "denominationalism" or "ecclesiasticism," and the Association claims to be "a conservative antithesis" to the "growing tendency in the New Church to take Swedenborg's 'ipse dixit' as the final authority on all Church matters." The Association greatly commends Mr. Reed's report on the Writings and the Word, which was accepted by the recent Convention in Philadelphia.

     The meeting of the "Round Table." at the close of the recent Convention in Philadelphia, considered among other things the question "Where are the children of New Church parents?" A letter had been sent to each society represented in the Convention, asking for records of the children baptized in that society since 1870. From the responses received from twenty-two societies it appeared that out of 1,734 children baptized, only 588 could be accounted for, and of these only 344 had become members of the New Church societies, with 97 yet too young to be received as members.

540


A little more than one-fifth, therefore, of all the children in these twenty-two societies has been preserved for the Church during a period of thirty-two years. Twelve hundred and ninety-three persons, who by birth and education should naturally have become members of the Church, have been "unaccountably" lost!

     The Rev. Louis H. Tafel, of Philadelphia, has moved to Baltimore to take charge of the German New Church society in that city, which has been without the services of a pastor since the resignation of Rev. F. E. Waelchli.

     We learn that the Rev. Frank Sewall, of Washington, D. C., has recently received the degree of "Doctor of Divinity" from his Alma Mater, Bowdoin College, at Brunswick, Maine. We do not wonder at the College thus honoring a distinguished alumnus, but we do wonder if Mr. Sewall will accept the honor. Bowdoin College, we understand, is a Calvinistic institution, the "Divinity" of which is utterly irreconcilable with the Theology of the New Church. It seems self-evident that a person cannot consistently be a "Doctor." i. e., a teacher, of Old Church and at the same time New Church Divinity.

     The Detroit society at its last quarterly meeting admitted eleven new members. The membership now numbers 86 persons.

     Work has been begun on a new temple and parish house for the society in Cincinnati, to be situated at the corner of Oak and Winslow streets. $25,000 have been subscribed for this purpose by members of the society, and a similar amount will be borrowed on the John street property. The Rev. L. P. Mercer has called our attention to an error in our statement in the May Life respecting his work in Cincinnati, where we give to him the credit for a new "era of great activity in the systematic study of the Heavenly Doctrines" in Cincinnati. We fell into this error from the fact that but little of such activity was formerly reported in the Messenger, but Mr. Mercer now informs us that most of the present doctrinal development is due to the labors of his predecessor in Cincinnati, the Rev. John Goddard.

     The 19th of June was celebrated at Indianapolis with a somewhat more elaborate supper than on the ordinary Thursday nights' meetings. Several toasts appropriate to the day were offered, and were responded to by Messrs. Vondersaar, Minger, and Bates.

     The four parishes of the Chicago society united in the celebration of "New Church Day" by a union service at Steinway Hall, which had been rented for the purpose and handsomely decorated with greens and flowers. A special order of services was printed, and addresses were delivered by the three resident ministers, Mr. King speaking on "The End of the Church." Mr. Saul on "The New Gospel," and Mr. Schreck on "The Convocation and Mission of the Apostles."

     An important meeting of the Executive Committee of the Chicago Society was held on July 2d. The sum of $20,000 was voted for the erection of a new temple for the Kenwood parish, to be located on Forty-sixth street; $9,000 were voted for a new chapel for the Humboldt Park parish, on California avenue, and $9,00 for a new chapel for the North Side parish, to be located on the Sheridan Drive, near Rokeby street. Including the cost of the several lots, there will be expended in all $63.00 for the three new churches in Chicago. A memorial was adopted and forwarded to the proper authorities, asking that the next General Convention he postponed until the first week in September, 1903, with the expectation that the new buildings will then be completed.

     The Denver society, of which the Rev. Mr. Collom is pastor, this year observed the celebration of the Nineteenth of June. The society recently suffered a loss by the death of Mr. Peter Magnes, who for many years was a liberal supporter of New Church uses.

541


Mr. Magnes was a native of Sweden and an old-time subscriber and patron of New Church Life.

     The Rev. G. W. Savory, of Los Angeles, Cal., who some years ago made a scintillating comet-like appearance in the New Church, has now been welcomed back into the Congregational Church. The united Los Angeles society this year reports a very considerably smaller number of members than was reported by the two societies which united last year.

     CANADA. The Rev. S. S. Seward, president of the General Convention, accompanied by the Rev. Adolph Roeder, early in July made a journey to Manitoba, where, on July 13th, he ordained Mr. Klaas Peters, of Gretna, and Mr. Peter Hiebert of Rosenfeld, as ministers of the New Church. Neither of the two candidates has received any systematic training for their office. They, and the groups of new receivers to whom they are to minister, were formerly members of the Mennonite sect. The Doctrines were introduced among these people some twelve or fifteen years ago by a Mennonite minister, the late Rev. Mark Seller, who was afterwards excommunicated from that sect.

     GREAT BRITAIN. The thirty-eighth annual meeting of the New Church College was held in London on May 28th. Rev. J. R. Rendell, president, being in the chair. From the report of the Council, it appears that the work of the past session "has embraced Theology, a comprehensive study of parts of the Arcana Coelestia, selected books of the Greek Testament, Hebrew, Scripture History, the structure of Scripture, the reading of Swedenborg in the original, the Life of Swedenborg, the preparation and delivery of sermons" and also elocution. The course of instruction covers a period of four years. The meeting; devoted itself to a discussion of a suitable curriculum, which was the subject of the President's address. Particular importance was attached to the study of Hebrew, Greek and Latin, and also of current religious thought. One student, Mr. Harry Deans, has completed the four-years' course and is prepared to enter upon ministerial work. There will be three students during the coming college year.

     At the anniversary services held at Blackburn, Sunday, May 11th, a New Church minister (Rev. P. Ramage) officiated in the morning and evening, while "the Rev. Mr. Farquhar (Baptist). very kindly conducted the afternoon service (which was of a musical character), and gave a short address." And so the fraternization with the vastate Church goes on. What else can it lead to but the final extinction of the distinctive character of the Conference.

     After a vigorous appeal for the support of the New Church in England, the Society in Plaistow (London) has at last begun the erection of a church, the foundation stone having been laid on April 26th. This Society started 12 years ago under the leadership of Prof. Baynham, who was succeeded some time ago by the present pastor, Rev. W. E. Hurt. Mr. Hurt has agreed to serve the Society for the next three years without stipend, and has, in addition, lent it L250 without interest.

     Several times before now the Life has had occasion to call attention to the fraternization, on the plane of religion, between some of our English ministers and ministers of the Old Church. This fraternization--so destructive of the spiritual progress of the New Church--seems to be on the increase. Nor is this surprising, for it is the logical working out of the "permeation theory" which has obtained so great a hold on the members of the New Church. The latest recorded instance of the fraternization of which we speak occurred at Paisley, at the first of a series of open-air services, initiated by Rev. C. A. Hall, of the New Church Society there, with the hearty co-operation of a minister of the Congregational Church.

542


The service was conducted by the Congregational minister, a Baptist minister offered prayer, a Presbyterian minister read from the Word and the address was given by Mr. Hall, who took for his subject "The Great Remedy" (Malachi iv, 2). There were about 2,000 persons present. How much of the doctrines of the New Church was brought out in Mr. Hall's address may be gathered from the report that "all present (including the various ministers) seemed to appreciate the service." They would scarcely appreciate that "collision and conflict," which is the inevitable result of the Faith of the New Church being together with the faith of the former Church. (B. E. 102.)

     The Rev. Arthur Stones has entered upon the joint pastorate of the societies at Salford and Rhodes. At the reception held in Salford on April 5. Rev. A. E. Beilby spoke "in judicious terms" of "the wedding of Mr. and Mrs. Stones to the Salford Society and reminded each partner that the happiness and uses springing from the union depended largely on their appreciation of each other and the work upon which they were engaged." Does this herald a revival of the "Conjugial heresy," or did the "judicious terms" give some other impression? It dots not seem to have occurred to Mr. Beilby that Mr. and Mrs. Stones must be "wedded" to two Societies. Mr. Stones, speaking at the same reception, said that "in all points affecting the kingdom of God upon earth he would work side by side with the [Old Church] ministers around whenever he could. But when the great truths of the Church came in question he must stand by them at all hazards. They admitted of no compromise." There is a curious distinction here between "points affecting the Kingdom of God" and "the great truths of the Church."

     On Sunday, May 4th. special services were held at Ynyameudwy (Wales) to celebrate the clearance of the debt on the chapel. In the morning the services were conducted by Rev. Mr. Rees in Welsh, while the sermon was preached in English by Rev. H. Gordon Drummond. In the afternoon this order was reversed, Mr. Drummond conducting an English service and Mr. Rees preaching in Welsh; while, in the evening, both gentlemen preached, the one in English and the other in Welsh. People came from a distance of twenty miles, and the attendance was so good that in the afternoon and evening many had to go home on account of there being no room for them in the chapel.

     AUSTRIA -HUNGARY. The Rev. Fedor Gorwitz on May 16th paid a visit to the two societies in Vienna in order to investigate the conditions there and the possibility of accomplishing the proposed amalgamation of the two societies. The circumstances are very peculiar and such as to prevent any external union. The older society, which at one time was connected with Albert Artope, and which is known as the "Verein," is officially acknowledged as a dissenting body by the government, and is consequently allowed to hold public meetings, advertise lectures, etc., but on the other hand is subjected to strict governmental supervision A policeman is present at all the meetings, and all the doings of the "Verein," even the texts of the sermons, must be reported to the government. Children are not allowed to be present at the services. and if the Holy Supper were to be administered by a foreign clergyman (as, for instance, Mr. Gorwitz), the government would immediately dissolve the Verein. The other younger society, known as the "Gemeinde," which for many years ha been under the general supervision of Mr. Gorwitz, and at one time was accused of "Academical" tendencies, has never applied for governmental recognition, and consequently cannot hold public services; but, on the other hand, is free from any galling governmental interference.

543


Their services are looked upon as in the nature of family worship, to which a certain number of friends may be invited. Children are, therefore, allowed to attend, and the Sacraments may be freely administered. Under the prevailing conditions, the members of the "Verein" are not willing to give up their public recognition, nor are the members of the "Gemeinde" willing to surrender their more precious spiritual liberties. Nevertheless, there are now prospects of a greater degree of co-operation between the two societies, and a disposition among the individual members to avail themselves of the respective advantages of one another, all looking forward eagerly to the day which cannot long be delayed, when there shall be as great religious freedom in Austria as in Hungary. A young man, Mr. Franz Lux, of Vienna. is now coming to America to prepare himself for the ministry at the Convention's Theological School in Cambridge, Mass., but will first take a preparatory course under Rev. Adolph Roeder, at Orange, N. 5. Mr. Gorwitz preached to the "Gemeinde" on May 16th and 22d, baptizing two children and administering the Holy Supper to 27 communicants. On May 25th he held services at Budapest, the capital of Hungary, administered the Holy Supper to 28 communicants and baptized two adults, one of these a lady. Freulein Ella Szep, who was about to enter a convent, when she became acquainted with the Doctrines of the New Church. On May 27, Mr. Gorwitz delivered a public missionary lecture, at which a number of strangers were present, and on June 1st he visited the little New Church circle at Gyorkony.

     The little New Church Society or Circle at Trieste,--the fruit of the late Professor Scocia's devoted labors for the New Church,--seems to be in a growing condition. The society consists of about to persons, who meet together, every Sunday, for the reading of the Writings and for mutual encouragement in the Church. The death of Professor Scocia is a severe loss to them, and it is an evidence of their earnestness that they have still kept together,--and this in spite of financial limitations and of the restrictions which the Austrian Government still places upon freedom of conscience and freedom of private meeting. On June 19th, the society held a special gathering to commemorate the sending forth of the Apostles into the spiritual world. The meeting was opened with prayer, after which portions of the Word and the Writings were read. A few short papers by members were also read, and the evening terminated with social intercourse and music. It appears that there are others besides professed members of the Circle who may be more or less interested in the Writings, for on several occasions, when application was made for one or other of the New Church works presented by Professor Scocia to the town library, it has been found that some stranger had already borrowed it. This little society at Trieste is the only society that Professor Scocia. with all his zeal and earnestness, was able to establish: and it is also the only New Church Society ever established among Italian-speaking people.

     ITALY. The Rev. Loreto Scocia, who, since 1870, has labored in Italy as New Church evangelist and translator of the Writings into Italian, died at Florence on June 11th, 1902, at the age of sixty-six years. We hope, in our October issue, to present a sketch of the life and work of this faithful laborer in the Church.

     BRAZIL. Senor L. C. de Lafayette, of Rio de Janeiro, has now resumed the publication of his monthly journal. A Nova Jerusalem. We have just received the issue for June, 1902 (Vol. V., No. 14), which contains Portuguese translations from the Writings, articles by the editor, and some News Notes, taken, it seems, from the columns of the Life.     

544




     MAURITIUS. At the monthly service of the Society at Port Louis, held on Easter Sunday (April 30), Mr. Ackroyd, the vice-president, administered the Holy Supper to 47 communicants. There were 80 persons present. In his address, Mr. Ackroyd referred to the late Edmond de Chazal, who was the most active agent in the establishment of the New Church in Mauritius, and from whose hands he (the speaker) 86 years ago had received the Holy Supper for the first time in the New Church. The anticipations formed from the zeal and devotion of the early members of the Church in Mauritius had not been realized, since more than half of their descendants had now no connection with the Church, and the zeal and devotion of those who remained were no more what they once were. Formerly the Church services were well attended and its rites duly observed. It was quite different now.
Opening of Academy Schools 1902

Opening of Academy Schools              1902


Announcements.



     The Schools of the Academy of the New Church in all their departments will open for the fall term of 1902 on the 15th of September.

     In the Training School for Teachers, which will be opened this Fall, the following studies will be pursued:--

     Systematic study of the Letter of the Word, Scientifics of the Letter of the Word and Church History, Arcana of the Spiritual World, Principles of Education in the light of the Doctrines, History of Pedagogy and Hebrew.

     While this class is intended primarily for those who desire to prepare themselves for the teaching use, it will be open also to others who may wish to avail themselves of the opportunity to pursue an advanced course of study.

     Application for admission should be made to Rev. E. S. Price, Dean, Bryn Athyn, Pa. For further particulars see the Academy's Journal of Education for 1902, which may be obtained free on application to the Academy Rook Room.
Pittsburg Assembly 1902

Pittsburg Assembly       REGINALD W. BROWN       1902

     The Second Pittsburg District Assembly of the General Church of the New Jerusalem will be held in Pittsburg on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, October 23d to 26th, 1902. All members and friends of the General Church residing in Western Pennsylvania. Ohio and West Virginia are invited to attend.

     Visitors will be entertained by the members of the Pittsburg Society. We hope there will be many. Address, REGINALD W. BROWN, Sec., 500 Neville St., Pittsburg, Pa.

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TESTIMONY OF THE WRITINGS CONCERNING THEMSELVES 1902

TESTIMONY OF THE WRITINGS CONCERNING THEMSELVES              1902

     
NEW CHURCH LIFE.
VOL. XXII. OCTOBER, 1902.     
No. 10.
     In view of the long continued controversy in the New Church in regard to the real nature of the Theological Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg, their authority, and their relation to the Word of God, it is of the greatest importance that these Writings should be allowed to testify in their own behalf. In the following pages there have been brought together some of the many testimonies which these Writings present concerning themselves, and they have been classified under such headings as have been suggested by the passages themselves:

     I. THAT THE WRITINGS OF THE NEW CHURCH ARE A DIVINE REVELATION OF DIVINE TRUTH.

     "When I think of what I am about to write, and while I am in the act of writing, I enjoy a perfect inspiration, for otherwise it would be my own; but now I know for certain that what I write is the living truth of God."*
* Swedenborg to Gjorwell. Doc. II:404.

     "'And it was given to her that she should be arrayed in the linen clean and bright,' signifies that they who will be of the Lord's New Church are instructed by the Lord in genuine and pure truths through the Word."*
* A. R. 814.

     "'And she brought forth a Male child' signifies the Doctrine of truth which is for the New Church, which is called the New Jerusalem.... That 'the Male child' signifies the Doctrine of the Church, is because 'a son' in the Word signifies truth, and the Doctrine of the Church is truth in every complex."*
* A. E. 724.

546




     "In the New Church it is permitted to enter with the understanding and to penetrate into all its secrets, and also to confirm them by the Word. This is because its doctrinals are continuous truths, laid open by the Lord by means of the Word."*
* T. C. R. 508.

     "The Church knows nothing whatever of this its consummation and end, nor call it know anything of it, before the Divine Truths which are of the Lord in the work called The True Christian Religion' are clearly known and acknowledged."
* Coronis lv.

     "In order that it may be known how the case is with the Doctrine of faith, viz., that it is spiritual from a celestial origin, it is to be observed that that Doctrine is Divine Truth from the Divine Good, consequently Divine throughout, (in totum)."*
* A. C. 2531.

     "'And there was a voice of a trumpet going and strengthening itself exceedingly,' signifies the general of Revelation, for Divine Truth is Revelation."*
* A. C. 8823.

     "'And He signified it, sending by His angel to His servant, John' signifies the things which are revealed out of Heaven to those who are in the good of love. That 'to send' is to reveal, is because everything that is sent out of Heaven is revelation. Whether it be said that these things are revealed out of Heaven or from the Lord, it is the same."*
* A. E. 8.

     "The disclosure and rejection of the dogmas of faith of the present Church, and the revelation and reception of the dogmas of faith of the New Church, is meant by these words in the Apocalypse: 'He that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things New; and He said unto me, Write, for these words are faithful and true."*
* B. E. 95.

     "The Lord Jehovah from the New Heaven derives and produces a New Church upon earth, which is done by a Revelation of Truths from His own mouth, or from His Word, and by means of Inspiration."*
* Coronis 18. See also Cont. L. J. 12.

547




     "The coming of the Lord in the clouds of Heaven signifies His presence in the Word, and Revelation. That at this day, such an immediate Revelation is made, is because this is what is meant by the coming of the Lord."*
* H. H. 1.

     II. THAT THE WRITINGS OF THE NEW CHURCH WERE WRITTEN BY COMMAND OF THE LORD.

     "Our Saviour has visibly revealed Himself before me, and has commanded me to write what has already been written, and what I have still to write."*
* Swedenborg to the King of Sweden. Doc. II:375.

     "Now, by command of the Lord, who has been revealed to me, the following works are to be published." (Here follows a list of a number of the writings.)*
* Doc. Lord. Preface.

     With respect to the Memorable Revelations, Swedenborg said that he was commanded to declare what he had seen in the other world; and he related it as a proof that he did not reveal his own thoughts, but that they came from above.*
* Letter of Count von Hopken. Doc. II:414.

     "Since it has been given me by the Lord to behold the wonderful things which are in the heavens and below the heavens, I must, as commanded, relate what has been seen."*
* A. R. 962.

     On the Books written through Swedenborg "there was written 'The Advent of the Lord:' on all in the spiritual world. By command I wrote the same on two copies in Holland."*
* Swedenborg in his brief sketch of the Ecclesiastical History of the New Church.

      One of these two copies has been found in Holland, and bears the inscription:

     "Hic Liber est Adventus Domini"
     "Scriptum ex mandato."


III. THAT THE WRITINGS OF THE NEW CHURCH ARE THE LORD'S OWN WORKS.

     "That the Lord manifested Himself before me, His servant, and sent me to this office, and that He afterwards opened the sight of my spirit, and so has introduced me into the spiritual world, and has granted me to behold the heavens and the hells and to converse with angels and spirits, and this now uninterruptedly for many years, I testify in truth; likewise, that from the first day of that call I have not received anything that pertains to the Doctrine of the New Church from any angel, but from the Lord alone, while I read the Word."*
* T. C. R. 779.

548




     "Every one can see that the Apocalypse could never have been explained except by the Lord alone, for the several words there contain arcana which could never be known without a singular illustration and thus revelation; wherefore it pleased the Lord to open the sight of my spirit and to teach. Do not believe, therefore, that I have taken anything herein from myself, or from any angel, but from the Lord alone."*
* A. R. Pref.

     "I have had discourse with spirits and with angels now for many years; but neither has a spirit dared, nor any angel wished, to tell me anything concerning anything in the Word, or concerning any doctrine from the Word; but the Lord alone has taught me, who has been revealed to me, and has enlightened me."*
* D. P. 135.

     "It has been given me to see the light of Heaven, and from it to perceive distinctly what has come from the Lord, and what from the angels. What has come from the Lord has been written, and what has come from the angels has not been written."*
* A. E. 1183.

     "A certain Anglican bishop told how he especially had insulted the five works concerning Heaven and Hell and the rest which had been presented to all the bishops and to all the Protestant lords in the Parliament, vituperating and blaspheming them, etc. And it was told him that they are not my works, but the Lord's, who desired to reveal the nature of heaven and hell, and the quality of the life of man after death, and concerning the Last Judgment. And I also told him that this revelation is 'the Male child whom the woman brought forth and whom the dragon wished to devour.'"*
* S. D. 6102. Comp. A. R. 547, 716.

     IV. THAT THE WRITINGS OF THE NEW CHURCH ARE FROM THE LORD'S OWN MOUTH.

     "As regards myself, I have not been allowed to take any thing from the mouth of any spirit, nor from the mouth of any angel, but from the mouth of the Lord alone."*
* De Verbo XIII.

549




     "The Lord Jehovah derives and produces from this New Heaven a New Church on the earth, which is done by a Revelation of Truths from His own mouth or from His Word, and by Inspiration."*
* Coronis 18.

     "In order that the true Christian religion might be disclosed, it could not be otherwise than that some one should be introduced into the spiritual world, and from the mouth of the Lord receive genuine truths out of the Word."*
* Inv. 38.

     V. THAT SWEDENBORG ENJOYED A COMPLETE DIVINE INSPIRATION.

     "The Second Advent of the Lord is effected by the means of a man, before whom the Lord has manifested Himself in person, and whom He has filled with His Spirit, to teach the Doctrines of the New Church through the Word from Him."*
* T. C. R. 779.

     "From the New Heaven the Lord Jehovah derives and produces a New Church on earth, which is effected by a Revelation of Truths from His own mouth, or from His Word, and by inspiration."*
* Coronis 18.

     "When I think of what I am about to write, and in the act of writing, I enjoy a perfect inspiration, for otherwise it would be my own; but now I know for certain that what I write is the living truth of God."*
* Swedenborg to Gjorwell. Doc. II:404.

     "I have been instructed concerning these things that have been written as well by ideas of interior thought as by speech communicated to me."*
* S. D. 3578.

     "That I have spoken Truths which I myself have not understood but which afterwards were explained; thus, that words are inspired which the man does not understand."*
* Adv. I:1409.

     "The signification of the things here written [in the Word] was revealed to me in a wonderful manner. Without revelation it is impossible to understand such things. There was a dictation into the thought, but in a wonderful manner. The thought was thereby led to an understanding of these words, and the idea was kept fixed upon each single expression; it seemed as if it was fastened to it by a heavenly force.

550


Thus this revelation took place in a sensible manner."*
* Adv. III:7167.

     "There was an influx like a most gentle and almost imperceptible stream, the current of which is not apparent but still leads and draws; in this manner that which flowed in from the Lord led all the series of my thoughts into consequences, and although gently yet powerfully, in so much that (could not in anywise wander into other thoughts; which was even allowed me to attempt, but to no purpose."*
* A. C. 6474.

     "When I was writing and was in a certain intermediate celestial perception, it was perceived and said that each and all the words, and the letters with their little curves, were perceived by the celestials, and as it were, spoke to them. This is effected from the affection in which the man then is, being communicated to the hand, or being in the hand; for the hand, being power, is the man himself. Hence it was evident in what manner the Word has been inspired, that it is so as to the veriest jot and point."*
* S. D. 4820.

     "The angels observed that there is an inspiration of those things which are written in the Word of the Lord; for now it has appeared to them in what way and in what an abundance there inflowed into those things which were being written by me; and this not only into the sense, but also into the several words; nay, it seemed to them as if some persons were holding my hand and were writing, and supposing that it was they who were writing, and it was also granted me to perceive by a spiritual idea, nay, as it were to feel beforehand, what was in the most minute singulars of each little letter which was being written. Hence it is as in clear light that the Word of the Lord is inspired as to every letter."*
* S. D. 2270.

     "The spirits who now spoke with me said that the things which I had written are very rude and gross, so that they supposed that nothing interior could be understood from the words themselves or from the mere sense of the words. It was given me to perceive by a spiritual idea that this was so, that they are indeed very rude; wherefore it was given me to respond that these things are only vessels, into which purer, better and more internal things can be infused, like the literal sense, and that in the sense of the letter there are many such vessels, as it were, in the prophetical books."*
* S. D. 2185.

551




     "To-day it was given me to know that language follows from the thought according to the ideas of thought, and that language is a natural consequence which follows in order."*
* S. D. 2799.

     "It has been granted me to see the light of Heaven, and from it to perceive distinctly what comes from the Lord, and what from the angels. What has come from the Lord has been written, and what has come from the angels has not been written."*
* A. E. 1183.

     "The Books which were written by the Lord by means of me (a Domino per me), from the beginning to the present day, must be enumerated."*
* Eccl. Hist.

     "That the Internal Sense is such as has been expounded, is evident from the particulars which have been explained, but especially from this, that that sense has been dictated to me out of heaven."*
* A. C. 6597.

     VI. THAT THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM IS THE SAME AS THE INTERNAL SENSE OF THE WORD.

     "It has now pleased the Lord to reveal various arcana of Heaven, especially the internal or spiritual sense of the Word which was heretofore entirely unknown, and therewith He hath taught the genuine truth of Doctrine, which revelation is understood by the Advent of the Lord in Matth. xxiv."*
* A. E. 641.

     "The spiritual sense of the Word is at this day made known by the Lord, because the Doctrine of genuine truth is now revealed, and this Doctrine, and no other, agrees with the spiritual sense of the Word."*
* Doct. S. S. 25.

     "That the internal sense of the Word teaches the Doctrine of genuine truth."*
* A. C. 10584.

     "They that understand the Word according to the internal sense, know the true Doctrine itself of the Church, because the internal sense contains it."*
* Wh. H. 11; A. C. 9424.

552




     "The truth of the internal sense of the Word is the same thing as the genuine truth of the Doctrine of faith of the Church."*
* A. C. 9034.

     "From this Doctrine, also, the internal sense of the Word is known, since the internal sense of the Word is the Doctrine itself."*
* A. C. 9409.

     "Those who remain merely in the literal sense of the Word, and do not procure anything of Doctrine thence, are separate from the internal sense; for the internal sense is the Doctrine itself."*
* A. C. 9380, 9410.

     "The Doctrine which should be for a lamp, is that which the internal sense teaches, thus it is the internal sense itself."*
* A. C. 10400.

     "The true Doctrine of the Church is what is here called the internal sense, for in the internal sense there are such truths as are with the angels of heaven."*
* A. C. 9025.

     "The Doctrine of faith is the same thing as the understanding of the Word as to its interior contents or internal sense."*
* A. C. 2762.

     "The spiritual sense of the Word is the same with the Doctrine which is in Heaven."*
* N. J. 7.

     "The Doctrine itself is taught by the internal sense, and he who knows this Doctrine, has the internal sense of the Word."*
* A. C. 10276.

     VII. THAT THE THEOLOGICAL WRITINGS OF EMANUEL SWEDENBORG CONTAIN AND CONSTITUTE THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM, AND THUS REVEAL AND ARE THE INTERNAL SENSE OF THE WORD.

     "The Arcana Coelestia contained in the Sacred Scriptures or the Word of the Lord, unfolded."*
* Title.

     "The Apocalypse Revealed, in which are disclosed the arcana which are there predicted and hitherto have lain hidden."*
* Title.

     "The Apocalypse Explained according to the Spiritual Sense."
* Title.

553




     "As to what especially concerns the Doctrine which now follows, this also is from Heaven, because it is from the spiritual sense of the Word, and the spiritual sense of the Word is the same with the Doctrine which is in Heaven. But I will proceed now to the Doctrine itself, which is for the New Church; which, because it has been revealed to me out of Heaven, is called Heavenly Doctrine; for to give this Doctrine is the purpose of this work."*
* N. J. 7.

     "This, then, is the internal sense of the Word, its very essential life, which does not at all appear in the sense of the Letter."*
* A. C. 64.

     "The internal sense of the Word has been dictated to me out of Heaven."*
* A. C. 6597.

     "That this is the coming of the Lord, and that it is in consequence of this that arcana concerning Heaven and Hell, concerning man's life after death, concerning the Word, concerning the Last Judgment, have been opened by the Lord,--this is the Doctrine of the Church, and all these things have been written out in the Latin language."*
* Ath. Creed I.

     "That at this day the spiritual sense has been revealed by the Lord, is because the Doctrine of genuine Truth has now been revealed, which Doctrine is contained partly in The New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Doctrine, and now in the [other] little works which are being given to the people [the Four Doctrines]; and because that Doctrine, and no other, agrees with the spiritual sense of the Word, therefore that sense, together with the science of correspondences, has now for the first time been disclosed."*
* De Verbo VII:7.

     "'And she brought forth a Male child,' signifies the Doctrine of the New Church. . . . . The Doctrine which is here meant, is The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem (published at London, 1758); as also The Doctrines concerning the Lord, the Decalogue (Amsterdam, 1763); for by the Doctrine is meant all the truths of Doctrine, because the Doctrine is their complex."*
* A. R. 543.

554




     VIII. THAT THE INTERNAL SENSE OF THE WORD IS THE WORD OF GOD.

     "The Word is Divine Truth, and the internal or spiritual sense is the interior Word."*
* A. E. 948.

     "Because the case is thus in regard to the Word, viz., that its internal sense has become gradually obliterated, and this at the present day to such an extent that its very existence is unknown, when yet this is the verimost Word [ipissimum Verbum] in which the Divine is the most closely present, therefore the successive states in respect to it will be described in this chapter."*
* A. C. 3432.

     "That the internal sense is the Word itself, is manifest from the many things which have been revealed."*
* A. C. 1540.

     "What is the nature of the Word in the heavens, can be known only from the internal sense, for the internal sense is the Word of the Lord in the heavens."*
* A. C. 1887.

     "Moreover, the things described above [in this chapter], are the things which are contained in the internal sense, and the internal sense is the Word of the Lord in the Heavens: those who are in the Heavens perceive it thus. When a man is in the Truth, that is, in the internal sense, then he can make one as to thought with those who are in Heaven, even though the man be respectively in a most general and obscure idea."*
* A. C. 2094.

     "The Lord is essential Doctrine, that is, the Word, not only as to the supreme sense therein, but also as to the internal sense, and also as to the literal sense."*
* A. C. 3393.

     "By the Holy Spirit is meant the Lord as to the Divine Truth such as it is in the Heavens, thus the Word such as it is in the spiritual sense, for this is the Divine Truth in Heaven."*
* A. E. 778.

     "Divine Doctrine is Divine Truth, and all Divine Truth is the word of the Lord. The Divine Doctrine itself is the Word in the supreme sense, in which it treats of the Lord alone; thence the Divine Doctrine is the Word in the internal sense, in which it treats of the Lord's Kingdom in the heavens and the earths; Divine Doctrine is also the Word in the literal sense, in which it treats of the things which are in the world and on the earth.... For it is known that the Lord is the Word, that is, all Divine Truth."*
* A. C. 3712.

555




     IX. THAT, THEREFORE, THE WRITINGS OF THE NEW CHURCH ARE THE WORD OF GOD.

     "That which the Divine has revealed, is with us the Word."*
* A. C. 10320.

     "It was necessary that some Revelation should exist, for a Revelation, or a Word, is the common vessel recipient of spiritual and celestial things, thus conjoining heaven and earth; otherwise these would have been disjoined, and the human race would have perished."*
* A. C. 1775.

     "In John we read: 'In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and God was the Word.' Few know what is meant here by 'the Word:' that it is the Lord is evident from the particulars involved. And the internal sense teaches that the Lord as to His Divine Human is meant, for it is said that the Word was made Flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory. And because the Divine Human is meant, therefore by the Word is meant all Divine Truth which is concerning Him, and from Him, in His Kingdom in the heavens and in His Church on earth. Hence it is said that in Him was Life, and the Life was the Light of men, and the Light appeared in the darkness. And because the Divine Truth is meant, therefore by the Word is meant every Revelation, thus also the Word itself or the Holy Scripture."*
* A. C. 2894.

     "Divine Doctrine is Divine Truth, and all Divine Truth is the Word of the Lord."*
* A. C. 3712.

     "That 'words' in the original tongue also signify things is because in the internal sense signify truths of Doctrine; wherefore all Divine Truth is in general called 'the Word.'"*
* A. C. 5075.

     "In regard to the Word, 'a thing' in the original tongue is expressed by 'a word,' thence also a Divine Revelation is called the Word, and in the supreme sense, the Lord.

556


And by the Word, when it is predicated of the Lord and also of Revelation from Him, in the proximate sense is signified the Divine Truth, from which all things that are have their existence."*
* A. C. 5272.

     "'And God spake all these words, saying,' that hereby are signified Divine Truths for those in heaven and on earth, appears from the signification of 'the words which God spake,' as meaning Divine Truths, for the things which God speaks are nothing but Truths. Hence also the Divine Truth is called the Word."*
* A. C. 8861.

     "'And He that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new; and He said to me, Write, for these words are true and faithful,' signifies the Lord speaking concerning the Last Judgment, these things, viz., that the former Heaven with the former Earth, and the former Church, are about to perish, and that a New Heaven with a New Earth, or a New Church, which is to be called the New Jerusalem, is about to be created, and that men are to know this for certain, and remember them, because the Lord Himself hath testified and said it."*
* A. R. 886.

     "'And I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting Gospel to announce to the inhabitants upon the earth,' signifies the announcement of the Advent of the Lord and of the New Church about to descend out of Heaven from Him."*
* A. R. 626.

     "For it is the Divine which bears witness concerning the Divine."*
* A. E. 635.

     "From the Divine nothing can proceed except the Divine, and the Divine is One."*
* A. C. 10646.

     "The Divine is the same in the greatest and in the leasts."*
* D. L. W. 77.

     "The Books, which were written by the Lord by means of me, must be enumerated."*
* Eccl. Hist.

     X. THAT THE WRITINGS OF THE NEW CHURCH ARE THE FINAL CROWN IN THE SERIES OF WORDS OR DIVINE REVELATIONS.

     "As to the Word, it has existed at all times, but not the Word which we have at this day.

557


There was another Word in the Most Ancient Church which was before the Flood; and another Word in the Ancient Church which was after the Flood. But in the Jewish Church there was the Word which was written by Moses and the Prophets; and, finally, in the new Church, the Word written by the Evangelists."*
* A. C. 2895.

     "When the end of the Church is at hand, then the interior things of the Word, of the Church, and of worship, are revealed and taught. The reason is that the good may be separated from the evil, for these things are received by the good, but are rejected by the evil. Moreover, the interior things of the Word, which are revealed at the end of the Church, are of service for doctrine and life of the New Church' which also is then established. That this is so, is evident from the fact, that when the end of the Jewish Church was at hand, the Lord Himself opened and taught the interior things of the Word. It has been done in like manner at this day, for it has now pleased the Lord to reveal many arcana of Heaven, especially the internal or spiritual sense of the Word which hitherto has been altogether unknown, and with it He has taught the Doctrine of genuine Truth, which Revelation is meant by the Advent of the Lord in Matthew xxiv:3, 30, 37.... The Church, from most ancient times even to the end of the Jewish Church, increased as a man who is conceived, is born, and grows up, and is then instructed and taught. But the successive states of the Church, after the end of the Jewish Church, or from the time of the Lord even to the present day, have been like a man who grows in intelligence and wisdom, or is regenerated; for this purpose the interior things of the Word, of the Church, and of worship, were revealed by the Lord when He was in the world; and now again things still more interior; and in the degree that interior things are revealed, in that degree man can become more wise, for to grow interior is to grow wise, and to grow wise is to become interior."*
* A. E. 641.

     "At the end of the Church the interior things of the Word are manifested, which are to be of service to the New Church for Doctrine and life.

558


This was done by the Lord Himself when the end of the Jewish Church was at hand. The Lord Himself then came into the world, and opened the interior things of the Word, especially the things concerning Himself, concerning love to Him and love to the neighbor, and concerning faith in Him, which things formerly had lain hidden in the interior of the Word. But still, these things were not received at once, but after a considerable course of time, as is known from Ecclesiastical History.

     It was similar when the Most Ancient Church, which was before the Flood, came to its end. The celestial representatives which were among the most ancients, were then collected into a one by those who were called Enoch, and were preserved for the use of the New Church after the Flood. With these the same thing took place, viz., these things were separated from the evil ones by being 'taken up into heaven,' and thus guarded, and this even until the Old Church had come to its last and when a new Church was about to be established.

     The same thing is taking place at the present day. This Church, which is called Christian, has at this day come to its end; on which account the arcana of Heaven and the Church have now been revealed by the Lord to be of service for the New Church which is meant by the New Jerusalem, as the Doctrine of life and faith. This Doctrine, also, has been 'taken up into Heaven,' lest, before the establishment of the New Church, it should be hurt by the evil."*
* A. E. 670.

     That before the Church is fully devastated, the Word is interiorly revealed, i. e., as to its spiritual sense, is because then the New Church is to be established, into which are invited those who are of the former Church, and for this New Church the Divine Truth is interiorly revealed. It is done in the same way now as was done at the end of the Jewish Church. At its end, which was when the Lord came into the world, the Word was opened interiorly, for when the Lord was in the world there were revealed interior Divine truths which were to be of service and also did serve the New Church which was established by Him.

559


At the present day, also, on account of similar causes, the Word has been interiorly opened, and thence there have been revealed Divine truths still more interior, which are to be of service for the New Church which is to be called the New Jerusalem.

     The nature of the Divine Providence, in revealing Divine truths, is evident from the Churches which have been successively established. Inmost Divine truths were revealed to those who were of the Most Ancient Church. But exterior Divine truths were revealed to those who were of the Ancient Church, and most external, or ultimate Divine truths to the Hebrew Church, and finally to the Israelitish Church, in which at last all Divine Truth perished, for there was nothing in the Word which had not been at last adulterated. But after the end of that Church there were revealed by the Lord interior Divine truths for the Christian Church; and note, truths still more interior for the coming Church; these interior truths are those which are in the internal or spiritual sense of the Word. From these things it is manifest, that there has been a progression of the Divine truth from inmosts to outmosts, thus from wisdom to mere ignorance, and that now there is taking place a progression of the Divine truth from outmosts to inmosts, thus from ignorance again to wisdom."*     
* A. E. 948.

     "That the manifestation of the Lord in Person (before me), and the intromission into the spiritual world, not only as to the sight, but also as to the hearing and as to the speech from the Lord surpasses all miracles, since we do not read anywhere in the historical books of the Word that there has been granted such intercourse with angels and spirits since the creation of the world. For I am every day together with the angels there, as a man in the world is together with men, and this now for seven and twenty years. The testimonies of this intercourse are the books which have been published by me, concerning Heaven and Hell, and also the Memorable Relations thence in the last work, The True Christian Religion. Tell me, who ever before this has known anything about Heaven and Hell?

560


About the state of man after death? About spirits and angels, etc., etc.?

     Beside these most evident testimonies I may add this, that the spiritual sense of the Word has been revealed by the Lord through me, which has never been revealed before since the Word was written among the children of Israel. And this is the very Sanctuary of the Word; the Lord Himself is in it with His Divine, and in the natural sense with His Human. This could never have been opened except by the Lord alone, nor even an iota of it. This surpasses all the revelations that have been hitherto since the creation of the world. By this revelation men have open communication with the angels of heaven, and a conjunction has been established between the two worlds, for when man is in the natural sense, the angels are in the spiritual sense."*
* Invitation to the New Church, 43, 44.


     "That the New Church is the Crown of all the Churches that hitherto have been upon the earth. This is because it will worship one visible God in whom is the invisible, like the soul in the body..... That this Church is to succeed those which have existed since the beginning of the world; that it is to endure for ages of ages, and is thus to be the crown of all the Churches that have gone before it, was prophesied by Daniel."*
* T. C. R. 786, 790.

     "Because we now have One God in the Church, who is God Man and Man God, therefore this Church is called the Crown of all the Churches."*
* Inv. 53.

     XI. THAT THE WRITINGS OF THE NEW CHURCH ARE THE SECOND ADVENT OF THE LORD.

     "Hic Liber est Adventus Domini"
     "Scriptum ex mandato."

     "On the Books was written 'The Advent of the Lord;' on all in the spiritual world. By command I wrote the same on two copies in Holland."*
* Eccl. Hist.

     "The Second Advent of the Lord is effected by means of a man, before whom the Lord has manifested Himself in person and whom We has filled with His Spirit, to teach the Doctrines of the New Church through the Word from Him."*
* T. C. R. 779.

561




     "The 'Coming of the Lord in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory' signifies His presence in the Word, and Revelation. Hence it is manifest that by these words of the Lord is meant that at the end of the Church, when love and thence faith would be no more, the Lord would open the Word as to its internal sense, and would reveal the arcana of Heaven. That at this day there exists such are immediate revelation, is because this is what is meant by the Advent of the Lord."*
* H. H. 1.

     "'And they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory,' signifies that then the Word shall be revealed as to its internal sense, in which the Lord is. The 'Son of Man' is the Truth Divine which is therein."*
* A. C. 4060.

     "The Advent of the Lord is the Revelation of Truth Divine at the end of the Church."*
* A. C. 9807.

     "The Advent of the Lord is the Revelation of Himself and of the Divine Truth which is from Him, in the Word, by means of the internal sense. For the Lord does not reveal Himself anywhere except in the Word, nor there otherwise than by means of the internal sense."*
* A. E. 36.

     "It has now pleased the Lord to reveal various arcana of heaven, especially the internal or spiritual sense of the Word, which hitherto has been entirely unknown; and therewith He hath taught the genuine truth of Doctrine, which revelation is meant by the Advent of the Lord in Matthew xxiv."*
* A. E. 641, 906.

     "That this revelation is the Advent of the Lord, and that it is in consequence of this that arcana concerning Heaven and Hell, concerning man's life after death, concerning the Word and concerning the Last Judgment, have been opened by the Lord. This is the Doctrine of the Church. All these things have been written out in the Latin language, and they have been sent to all the archbishops and bishops of Great Britain and to some of the nobility; and still not a word has been heard; a sign that they do not interiorly care for the things of Heaven and the Church, and that is now the very end of the Church, and indeed that the Church is no more."*
* Ath. Creed 1.

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     A RESUME

     Since the Writings of the New Church are a Divine Revelation of Divine Truth;
     Since they were written by commend of the Lord, and are His own works;
     Since they are from His own mouth and were given by means of a complete Divine inspiration;
     Since they constitute the genuine Doctrine of the New Jerusalem, which is the same as the internal sense of the Word;
     Since they themselves are the Word of God, the most excellent and the final crown of all Words or Divine Revelations; and
     Since, as such, they constitute the Second Advent of the Lord, it follows:

     XII. THAT THESE WRITINGS ARE THE LORD HIMSELF IN HIS SECOND ADVENT, REVEALED IN HIS DIVINE HUMAN TO THE MEN OF THE NEW CHURCH.

     "By the 'Comforter' is meant the Divine Truth which the Lord was while in the world, and which proceeds from the Lord after He glorified His Human and went out of the world; and therefore He said that He would send the Comforter, and that He Himself would come. To 'send the Comforter' is to illustrate and instruct in the truths of faith, and 'to come to them' is to lead into good."*
* A. C. 9199.

     "Whether you say 'the Lord' or 'the Divine Truth,' it is the same, since all Divine Truth is from Him, and therefore He Himself is in it."*
* A. E. 411.

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     "Whether you say 'the Lord's Divine Human" or 'the Divine Truth,' it is the same, since the Lord when in the world was the Divine Truth itself, and when He went out of the world He made Himself the Divine Good, from which is the Divine Truth."*
* A. C. 10258.

     "Nothing whatever of Doctrine can proceed from the Divine itself except through the Divine Human, that is, through the word, which, in the supreme sense, is the Divine Truth from the Lord's Divine Human."*
* A. C. 5321.

     "The manifestation of the Lord in the Word was effected by His opening and revealing the internal or spiritual sense; for in this sense is the Divine Truth itself such as it is in heaven, and the Divine in heaven is the Lord Himself there."*
* A. E. 594.

     "What proceeds from the Lord is the Lord, that this is the Divine Truth has been frequently shown in what precedes."*     
* A. C. 9407.

     "The internal sense is the soul of the Word, and is the Divine Truth itself proceeding from the Lord; thus it is the Lord Himself."*
* A. C. 9349.

     "As the Lord is the Divine Good, so also He is the Divine Truth; thus He is the Doctrine itself."*
* A. C. 2531.

     "Inasmuch as the Lord is the Word, He also is the Doctrine, for there can be no other Doctrine which is itself Divine."*
* A. C. 2533.

     "Hence also it is that as the Lord is the Word, so also He is the Doctrine of the Church; for all the Doctrine is from the word."
* A. E. 19.

     "It was also told the bishops that they are not my works but the Lord's. And I also told him that this revelation is 'the Male Child whom the woman brought forth and whom the dragon wished to devour."*
* S. D. 6102.

     "'And she gave birth to a Male Son ' signifies the Doctrine of the New Church. The Doctrine which is meant here is the Doctrine of the New Jerusalem (London, 1758); also the Doctrines concerning the Lord, the Sacred Scripture and Life (Amsterdam, 1763). For by 'the Doctrine' is meant all the truths of the Doctrine, because the Doctrine is their complex. When these Doctrines were being written, the Dragonists stood around me, and combined with all their fury to devour it, that is, to extinguish it. These Dragonists were from the Reformed Christian world, from all sides."*
* A. R. 543.

564


SOWING IN TEARS AND REAPING IN JOY 1902

SOWING IN TEARS AND REAPING IN JOY       Rev. EMIL CRONLUND       1902

SOWING IN TEARS AND REAPING IN JOY.

     A SERMON BY THE REV. EMIL CRONLUND.

     They that saw in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, brining his sheaves with him. (Ps. 126:5, 6)

     WHEN He was in the world our Saviour taught that straight is the gate and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life. He taught that he who would attain unto eternal life must live a life of self-denial; that he must forsake and shun many things to which his heart inclines, and that he must learn to practice and love things which are distasteful to his unregenerate nature. He taught His followers that they must take up their cross and follow Him, by which is meant that they must put on the armour of Light and enter into combat against the evils of their selfhood, in order that they may serve the Lord alone and thus be worthy followers of Him, for the Lord also taught that whosoever loves father or mother or wife or sister or brother more than Him is not worthy of Him. These in a good sense represent various good affections and desires, but in the opposite sense, in which they are used here, they represent evil affections and delights, and if we love these more than the Lord then we are not worthy of Him; we cannot be His disciples. A disciple of the Lord must sell all that he has and become poor in spirit, for then only can he acquire a treasure in Heaven. Instead of regarding the transient things of this world as an end, he must look to his eternal home in Heaven, and instead of regarding himself in the first place, he must love the neighbor as himself and the Lord above all things. Because by nature we incline to that which is forbidden, and because nothing gives us greater pleasure than to be led blindly by the lusts of the proprium, therefore when we begin the work of repentance the struggle is hard, and there are dark moments when the hope of salvation almost vanishes and the spirit is surrounded by sorrow and despair.

565


But when it seems to man that he cannot but yield, then he is rescued by the Lord; he is led to the Rock that is higher than himself; he is gifted with tranquility and peace, and in this manner "they that sow in tears shall reap in joy."

     The Psalm from which this text is taken describes the joy of the Israelites on account of their deliverance from the Babylonish captivity. They were prisoners in Babylon for seventy years, and their sorrowful state while there is described in another Psalm in the following words: "By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat, yea, we wept when we remembered Zion. We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof. For then they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that washed us required of us mirth, saying, sing us one of the songs of Zion. How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land? If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy." But their state of joy and gladness upon their return to their own country is described in these words: "Wizen the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream. Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing; then said they among the heathen, The Lord hath done great things for them. The Lord hath done great things for us; whereof we are glad." And then follow the words of our text. This shows how sorrow is swallowed up in joy. The sad state of the Israelites while in Babylon represents the state of mourning and grief of man when he is in the despair of temptation and is temporarily held captive by evil spirits; but their state of joy upon their release represents the joyful state of man when he is delivered out of the hand of the enemy by the Lord.

     When temptation is over, the Lord shines on man with benediction, for it is from Divine order that comforts follow the pains of temptations. in like manner as morning and day dawn succeed evening and night; there is also a correspondence between them, for there are changes of states in the other life, as there are changes of seasons in the world; states of temptations and of infestations, also states of desolations, are in the other life evening and night. And states of consolations and festivity are morning and day dawn. It is also said in the Word that "weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning."

566


Joy comes after the temptation, after the victory. It cannot come before, for when man is in temptation he is encompassed and obsessed by falses and evils, which hinder the influx of light from the Divine, that is of truth and good, in which case man is as it were in darkness. Darkness in the other life is nothing else than obsession by falses, for these take away light, and thus the perception of consolation by truths, from him who is in temptations; but when man emerges out of temptation, then light appears with its spiritual heat, that is, truth with its good; hence he has gladness after anxiety; this is the morning which succeeds night in the other life. The reason why good is then perceived, and truth appears, is because after temptation truth and good penetrate towards the interiors, and are inrooted; for when man is in temptation, he is as it were in the hunger of good, and in the thirst of truth; wherefore when he emerges, he takes in good as a hungry man does meat, and receives truth as a thirsty man does drink. And besides, when light from the Divine appears, falses and evils are removed, and when these are removed there is made a passage way for truth and good to penetrate more interiorly. These are the reasons why after temptations the good of love appears with its light from the Lord.

     After the night the morning follows, but no one can experience the blessedness of the morning who has not passed through this spiritual night. It is after warfare that the sweetness of peace is really felt and appreciated. No one can have an exquisite perception of what is pleasant and delightful, unless he has been in what is not pleasant and not delightful. No one can come to Heaven except through the straight gate and the narrow road; no one can climb up some other way. Because no one can come into a spiritual temptation except him who has an affection for spiritual things, and because he fights against evil spirits, who attack him, in order that he may retain this affection; and because no one can retain it except by combats, therefore the Lord calls those blessed that mourn, for they shall be comforted. These are blessed because their mourning is a sign that the affection is there and that there is a fear lest it should be lost. They are blessed also, because after the combat the affection is stronger than before, which is meant by their being comforted.

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Our Lord therefore teaches that we should rejoice and be exceeding glad when we are persecuted for the sake of His truth, and the Apostle James says: "My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing." "Blessed is the man that endureth temptation; for when he is tried he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love Him."

     These things show that temptations are necessary and that out of them is evolved a blessing, and that no one can gain Heaven without having undergone them. The Lord came to send peace on earth, but He also said that He came to send a sword. He sent a sword, for He gave the truth unto men, which is a sharp two-edged sword, by means of which they might cut themselves loose from the cords of falsity, and thus gain the light and peace which follow after darkness and combat. After the temptation man has peace because peace is the result of the conjunction of good and truth. This peace proceeds from the Divine marriage of good and truth in the Lord, and when man comes into conjunction with the Lord he receives of this peace. Before man has undergone temptation there is no union of good and truth in him, for although he may be in natural good and although he may have knowledges from the Word in his memory, still these things do not make the Church, but the shunning of evils as sins against God and the true understanding of the Word and what make the Church. But after temptation he receives light froth the Lord by means of which he sees and understands how to shun evils, and so good and truth are united in him and he has peace.

     The reason man receives joy after temptations is that after them the man is admitted into Heaven; for by means of temptations man is conjoined with Heaven, and is let into it; hence he has joy like that which the angels have. That man is conjoined with Heaven through temptations is because he is by that means conjoined with the angels who are then with man and who fight for him against evil spirits. When evil spirits are conquered by good spirits, the latter have joy through Heaven from the Lord, and this joy is perceived by man as in himself. We are told in the Word that there shall be joy in Heaven over one sinner that repenteth, and as man is admitted into Heaven through temptations, he is also admitted into its joys, and thus "they that saw in tears shall reap in joy."

568




     The Lord said on one occasion: "Blessed are ye that weep now, for he shall laugh." When man is in a state of spiritual grief, blessedness seems to be far from him. He does not see how any blessing can ever be evolved out of his trouble. But blessings frequently come disguised as misfortunes, and it is not until after the temptation that man realizes what he has gained by it.

     The eye signifies the understanding of truth, and hence a tear signifies grief because there is no understanding of truth, consequently, because of falsity. Thus weeping signifies a state of grief on account of ignorance. It is said in the Apocalypse Explained that "it is to be noted, that both 'shedding of tears' and 'mourning' signify grief on account of falsities and from falsities, but 'shedding of tears' signifies grief of mind, and mourning grief of heart on account of falsities. Grief of mind is grief of the thought and understanding, which pertain to truth; and grief of heart is grief of the affection or will, which pertain to good; and as there is everywhere in the Word a marriage of truth and good, both 'mourning' and 'tears' are mentioned in the Word when grief is expressed on account of falsities of doctrine or of religion. That 'mourning' means grief of heart can be seen from the fact that 'mourning' bursts forth from the heart and breaks out into lamentations through the mouth; and that 'shedding tears' means grief of mind can be seen from this, that it issues forth from thought through the eyes. In both mourning and shedding tears water comes forth which is hitter and astringent, and this occurs through an influx into man's grief from the spiritual world, where bitter water corresponds to lack of truth on account of falsities; therefore those who are in truth grieve on account of falsities." (484.)

     No one can enter into temptations except him who is grounded in truths from the Word. But although man may have truths from the Word, still he may not be in the understanding of those truths. He may see the mere appearance of the truth instead of the truth itself. If he then be in the endeavor to gain a clear understanding of the truth, the evil spirits who infest him strive to intercept the light from Heaven by suggesting confirmations in favor of the appearance, and so to keep him in that appearance and at length lead him away from the truth entirely.

569


They with whom this struggle is going on are they who sow in tears, but who shall reap in joy, for they are continually defended and uplifted by the Lord lest they should fall. For with all who are in temptations there flows in truth from the Lord, which rules and governs the thoughts and raises them up as often as they fall into doubts, or despair. This governing truth is that truth and such truths as they have learned from the Word or from doctrine; other truths, indeed, are also then recalled, but they do not govern their interiors; sometimes this truth which governs is not presented to view before the understanding, but lies hid in what is obscure, but still it governs; for the Divine of the Lord flows into it, and thus keeps the interiors of the mind in it, wherefore when it comes into light, he who is in temptation receives consolation and is uplifted with hope. In a temptation-combat man fights against some particular falsity, and he is then sustained by some particular truth from which he derives his hope and finally his comforts. This particular truth is the governing truth with him at the time, by means of which he also conquers. This governing truth, and also other truths that man may have learned from the Word. are more firmly implanted by means of temptations, and this implantation of the truth is what is meant by "sowing in tears." Through temptations truths are sown in man and become rooted in him. That this is so may be evident from this, that he who defends his opinion against another, confirms himself still more in his own opinion and also finds many more confirmations in favor of it, and also many things which invalidate the opposite.

     The truth which is attacked with man, and on account of which he suffers temptation, is the "precious seed" spoken of in the text. It is said there: "He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed." "He that goeth forth" means he who advances against falsities in order to conquer them and cast them out. As man is the receptacle of Divine truth from the Lord, therefore in the Word he is compared and likened to a field, consequently to seedtime, and the Word of the Lord is likened to seed, and the effect thereof, to increase or harvest.

     "He that goeth forth and weepeth bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him."

570


By a sheaf in the Word is meant a general doctrine of the a general is that which includes in itself many particulars. The doctrine concerning the Divine Human of the Lord is a general doctrine of the Church, for it includes many particular doctrines which must be understood in order that this doctrine may be seen in its light. In order to understand this doctrine it is necessary to understand the causes that led to the Lord's coming in the flesh; it is necessary to understand what is meant by the Lord's temptations and by His glorification; it is necessary to know what is meant by the Divine Trinity; it is necessary to know what man receives from his father and what he receives from his mother, in order that it may be understood what it was that the Lord took from the Virgin Mary, besides many more things that are included within this general doctrine. But all these particulars taken together make a "sheaf" or a bundle, as it is also called in the Writings. The chapter in the True Christian Religion, in which the particular doctrines are given in an orderly arrangement, each under its own heading, are examples of what is meant by a sheaf.

     We read in Genesis that Joseph, the son of Jacob, dreamt that he and his brethren were binding sheaves in the field, and that his sheaf stood upright and that those of his brethren stood round about and bowed themselves to his sheaf. By the twelve sons of Jacob are represented all the general truths of the Church. Joseph represents the Lord as to the Divine Human, and consequently his sheaf represents the doctrine of the Divine Human, and by all the other sheaves bowing themselves to his was represented that that doctrine is the Chief and head of all the doctrines of the Church. It may thus be evident that by a sheaf is meant a general doctrine.

     Now, before regeneration, the truths that a man may have in his memory are not fixed there in an orderly arrangement. The relation of one truth to another is not clearly seen, nor are the truths with him arranged into series in application to things according to uses. But by means of temptation-combats truths with him are arranged into order, into series or sheaves. As the Lord when He Came arranged all things in Heaven into order, so also when He comes to man He arranges his little heaven into order. He destroys the imaginary heavens with him; that is, the appearances of truths, and gifts him with genuine truths from the Word.

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Falsities and obscurities being thus removed, the man sees the relation of one truth to another; he sees the particular doctrines of the Church which go to make up the general, and this is what is meant by "he that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him."

     Thus the Lord who Himself is the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, comforts and rewards those who are persecuted for Righteousness's sake. Even though he walk through the valley of shadow he need not fear any evil, for the Lord is ever present, guiding and supporting him. He allows no burden to be placed on man which would be too heavy for him to bear. He who in this world has suffered the cross, will in the world to come be adorned with the crown of life? for "they that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him."-Amen.
IN LIGHT AND SHADOW 1902

IN LIGHT AND SHADOW        EMILIE SCHNEIDER       1902

A HYMN

When sunlight o'er the earth is streaming
And glory fills Thy temples here,
We feel Thy love upon us beaming,
And know, O Lord, that Thou art near.
In days of peace, as we adore Thee,
When flowers along our pathway shine,
With songs of joy we come before Thee,
And praise Thy wondrous ways Divine.

But when the gathering mists enshroud us
And hide Thy radiance from our sight,--
With gloom and threatening shades about us,
And other children of the night;
O Lord of Light, as we implore Thee
To take the darkening clouds away
With humble hearts we bow before Thee,
And lowly wait the break of day.

572


REASONS FOR THE EXISTENCE OF THE GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM 1902

REASONS FOR THE EXISTENCE OF THE GENERAL CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM       Rev. E. C. BOSTOCK.*       1902

     (Address to the First Assembly of the General Church of the New Jerusalem in Great Britain.)

     It is my purpose in this address to consider some of the uses of the General Church in order that we may have clearly before us the reasons for its existence as a distinctive body of the New Church.

     Let us enquire then what is the faith and life of the General Church of the New Jerusalem.

     The Lord's New Church is constituted of all who acknowledge Him in His Second Coming, and who live according to His teachings.

     I think it ought to be clear to all, that, while there are many in all faiths throughout the world who are of the Universal Church or Kingdom of the Lord, only those are of His New Church, understood in its distinctive and specific sense, who actually know the Doctrines of the New Church, which the Lord has revealed by means of man "whom He filled with His Spirit, to teach the Doctrines of the New Church through the Word from Him" (T. C. R. 779); who acknowledge them to be from the Lord, who read and understand them, and live according to their teaching.

     These are confined to no particular organization of the New Church, and mere membership in an organization does not of itself constitute a man one of these. Who they are and where they are the Lord alone truly knows. He has revealed to us that there are some in Africa and some in Asia.

     We hope and believe that all professed New Churchmen are of this number and are truly members of the Lord's New Church, each according to the faith of his life, whether he be of the Conference, of the Convention, of the General Church of the New Jerusalem, or of neither.

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     But this invisible, internal New Church, ii we may so call it, can not exist and continue to grow and prosper without the externals of the Church. The doctrines of this New Church must be taught, the Sacraments and other rites of the Church must be administered, if this essential New Church is to be preserved and propagated.

     This appears quite plainly from the ordination of the Sabbath, and of the Sacraments of Baptism and the Holy Supper, as well as from the teaching of the doctrines concerning external worship and the priesthood.

     One of the Tea Commandments given by the Lord as a means for the establishment of the Church is "Remember the day of the Sabbath to hallow it."

     When this Commandment was given to the Israelites the Sabbath was a representative day It represented the glorification of the Lord's Human and its complete union with the Divine, and at the same time the state of the regenerate man, in which all temptations cease and he comes into complete rest from spiritual labor. In the representative church, therefore, this day was not only for the worship of the Lord. But that it might perform its representative use, it was also a day of complete rest from labor.

     But when the Lord came into the world and fulfilled the Word, the representative character of the day ceased, but the Sabbath was not done away with; it was retained, and we are taught in the True Christian Religion that "When the Lord came into the world, and the representations of Him therefore ceased, that day became a, day of instruction in Divine things, and thus also a day of rest from labor and of mediation on such things as relate to salvation and eternal life: as also a day of love towards the neighbor." (T. C. R. 301.)

     Further, this first part of the commandment, in the' Arcana Coelestia, is put among those precepts which are to be altogether kept and done.

     This commandment of the Lord rests upon the necessity for continual instruction in Divine things and for the practice of the externals of worship, in order to preserve true internal worship among mankind. It is of the greatest importance for every one to realize this eat truth contained in the Commandment, 'Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.'

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     We can not neglect it with all it involves of the establishment and practice of external worship, without injury to our spiritual state and the spiritual state of our children. The keeping of the Sabbath is an absolutely essential means from the establishment and preservation of the true internal worship of the New Church, without which there can be no salvation.

     Concerning the use of external worship let us call to mind the following familiar teaching:

     "Man whilst he is in the world ought not to omit external worship, for by external worship externals things are excited; and by external worship externals are held in a state of sanctity so that internals may be able to flow in. Moreover man is hereby imbued with knowledge and prepared to receive celestial things. He is also gifted with states of sanctity, although he does not know it; whilst holy states are preserved by the Lord for his use in external life; for in the other life all man's states of life return." (A. C. 1618.)

     It is maintained by some that man can do all that is here taught concerning the Sabbath and the necessity of external worship, at home by himself, and thus that there is no necessity for the establishment of public external worship.

     But this does not agree with what is taught concerning the institution of the Sacraments of Baptism and the Holy Supper, and the office of the Priesthood.

     We are further taught that "The externals of the body which are of worship are: 1. Frequenting temples. 2. Listening to preachings. 3. Devoutly singing, and praying on the knees. 4. Partaking of the Sacrament of the Supper," etc. (Doct. of Charity, 114.)

     These things cannot be done unless there are temples to frequent and priests to teach and to administer the Sacraments. We are therefore taught that the office of the priesthood is to administer the things which are of the Divine Law and Worship; that their use is to provide that the Divine may be among the people; and that they are to lead by truth to the good of life.

     But we cannot establish an orderly priesthood and provide the externals necessary for worship without co-operation, which, if it is to be done effectively, demands organization.

     This necessity for the inward, invisible Church to take on external form and to stand forth to proclaim the truth and thus to hold up a standard for the people, has been seen from time immemorial.

575


No Church has ever been established without these means and no Church ever can be. They are essential means for the establishment of the Church in its true internal form and it behooves us all to remember that "he who loves the end loves the means.

     That these means were necessary has been seen from early times by the members of the New Church, and the perception of this use has resulted in the establishment of the General Conference in England and of the General Convention in America.

     The question may arise in the minds of some, What necessity is there then for another body of the New Church' Why can we not work with our brethren of the Conference and of the Convention? Why do we need a General Church of the New Jerusalem?

     The necessity for this body arises from the perception that, to establish the New Church on a firm footing, it is absolutely necessary that certain doctrines be acknowledged in faith and life, and at the same time from the perception of uses which flow from the reception of these doctrines.

     These are:

     First: The Doctrine concerning the Divine Authority of the Writings of the New Church.

     Second: The Doctrine concerning the Distinctiveness of the New Church, which involves the Doctrine concerning the Consummation of the Old Church.

     Third: The Doctrine of Conjugial Love.

     Fourth: The Doctrine concerning New Church Education.

      Fifth: The Doctrine concerning the Priesthood.

     These doctrines are familiar to most if not to all of you, and I need today only call to your mind the absolute necessity for the truths of these doctrines in the establishment of the New Church and for entrance into its interior goods. It is essential that these doctrines be not only believed, but lived, if the New Church is to be established.

     In the Writings of the New Church the Lord has opened His Word and made His Second Coming to save the human race. If the human race is to be saved the Lord must be seen in His Second Coming and He must be acknowledged to be Divine.

576


This is the same thing as to say that the truth revealed must be seen to be Divine Truth, and must be obeyed as such. Only in this way can man enter into the interior goods contained in those truths. So long as those truths are supposed to be merely human, and not Divinely Human, the evils they point out are not shunned as sins against God and therefore the goods within these truths are not received. For man comes into genuine spiritual goods only as he shuns evils as sins against God.

     The acknowledgment of the Divinity of the Revelation made for the New Church is essential to the establishment of the New Church in the world, in any society, and in the individual man. This truth must be seen in order to perceive the necessity for the existence of the General Church of the New Jerusalem.

     The perception of this truth alone, together with the perception of the need for its proclamation with unswerving loyalty, and at the same time for making the Doctrines the actual guide in the work of establishing the Church, is sufficient reason for the existence of the General Church: for while there are some both in the Conference and the Convention who see this truth, yet those bodies as a whole do not rest upon the unswerving, undoubting acknowledgment of this Doctrine.

     It may be said that the General Church is the only general body of the New Church which makes the acknowledgment of this doctrine an essential of membership, and thus holds it up standard for the people.

     If it is seen that this doctrine is essential for the true and interior establishment of the New Church, and that we cannot enter into the genuine goods of the Internal sense of the Word without it, then the need for a body of the Church to live according to this doctrine and to proclaim it to all who are willing to hear, must be manifest.

     But when this doctrine is accepted and man begins to study the Writings to learn how he is to live, and what he is to do to further the establishment of the New Church, then comes a perception of certain other truths which must be lived. Among them is the doctrine concerning the Consummation of the First Christian Church and of the Distinctiveness of the New Church. This doctrine teaches that the first Christian Church has been destroyed by evils of life and falsities of doctrine, and that there is in it only a remnant of those who have anything of religion left, and that these are to be collected together, inaugurated and instructed and so formed into a New Church, which is not to be a mere sect or denomination of the Old Church, but a distinctly New Church.

577




     It is important to see this doctrine, that we may see the importance of a full and complete rejection of the doctrines of the Old Church, and at the same time that we may guard ourselves and our children from the infesting spheres of the love of self and of the world, by the establishment of distinct New Church Worship and Education.

     Then comes the very important doctrine concerning Conjugial Love. It must be clearly seen that this love is not a merely natural love, but that it is a spiritual love,--that in fact it is the fundamental lose of all loves that are good; that it goes hand in hand with religion, i. e., that it can exist only with those who have a real religion of the life, and in its purity only with those who have a true religion. Further, that it is of such a character that it can exist only with two who are of the same religion and that therefore it is wrong for a member of the New Church to marry one of a different religion. That the establishment of the Church involves the cultivation of this holy love by obedience to the Lord's teaching on this subject and by shunning all affections, thoughts and deeds opposed to it, is seen and acknowledged by the General Church of the New Jerusalem, and in that body this is not admitted into doubt.

     As the love of offspring flows from Conjugial Love, so from a perception of this doctrine and the doctrine of the distinctiveness of the New Church comes the perception of the necessity for a true New Church Education as a means of establishing the Church among our children and as a most hopeful means of promoting the growth of the Church.

     Lastly, there is the doctrine of the Church concerning the Priesthood. It is the clear teaching of the doctrine that the office of the priesthood is established by the Lord for the administration of the things of Divine Law and Worship; that priests are governors of ecclesiastical things among men; that it is their duty to provide that the Divine be among men, by conducting public worship, administering the sacraments and in general by teaching truth and thus leading to the good of life.

578




     The perception and understanding of this doctrine involves an acknowledgment of the use of this office to one's self and one's children, and at the same time that the priesthood must be free in the performance of its uses.

     No doubt these doctrines are seen with more or less distinctness by some members of the Conference and the Convention, but these bodies do not stand firmly upon them as does the General Church of the New Jerusalem. While the Conference and the Convention every now and then enter into inquiries as to whether they be so or not, the General Church acknowledges them to be true and endeavors to enter into a life according to them.

     On the perception of these truths and of their necessity for the establishment of the New Church in our own lives, in our own society of the Church and in the world, rests the perception of the need for the existence of the General Church of the New Jerusalem.

     It is of importance for us to realize the use and necessity for the existence of a Church where the Lord is clearly seen and acknowledged in His Divine Human. By such a Church I do not mean now an organization, but the actual existence of such a Church in the faith and life of the members of the Church. The existence of such a Church, we are taught, is essential to the life of the kingdom of the Lord upon the earth, i. e., to the Church Universal, and that it does not matter even if it is only with a few. Such a Church forms a center and resting place for the heavens and acts as the heart and lungs in the human body. It is the central means for the Conjunction of heaven and earth.

     As has already been said, in order that such an internal Church may exist and live, there must be means. These means are the teaching and preaching of the Word and the Administering of the Sacraments and other rites of external Worship.

     The means to this, again, is an orderly and ordered priesthood which clearly sees and acknowledges the doctrines which alone can establish such a true Church.

     But such a priesthood cannot exist without the hearty co-operation and support of lay members of the Church. This involves the existence of an organized body of priests and laymen for the performance of this use.

579


Such use cannot be effectively performed without organization, and organization involves distinctions and determination. The ultimate termination is membership in the body.

     Organization with terminations is the whole order of heaven and earth. Heaven is divided into three heavens and innumerable societies, each distinguished from the other, each having its own membership. The human body is formed of organs and members, each distinguished from the other by skins and membranes which hold together and at the same time separate.

     So if man would do any effective work, he must organize, and he must know who are distinctly and fully with him and who are not, and this involves membership in the general body and again distinction into societies and membership in them.

     If we clearly see these truths, then it becomes our duty to press forward and do our best to bring them into actual effect. We ought not to suffer ourselves to be discouraged by the fewness of our members nor by the trials and difficulties which meet us in the way. Difficulties must be expected, especially in the midst of a consummated Church. Let us then be men of courage, and press on, trusting in the Lord and the truths He has mercifully given to us.

     And now a word or two in conclusion concerning the use of Assemblies such as the General Church holds as often as possible.

     One use is that the members of the Church may come to know each other, may feel each other's sphere and interest in the Church and may thus be a mutual encouragement one to the other.

     Another use is to discuss together the doctrines and uses of the Church, and to take such measures as are possible for the performance of those uses which relate to the good of the whole body.

     But the most important use of all, as it appears to me, is to lift the mind above the merely local uses in which we are all engaged from week to week, to the general uses which affect the whole body and from which the local uses derive their support and life.

     In meetings, then, let us lift up our minds to the contemplation of the uses of the general body to its growth and progress; let us do what we can to excite in ourselves and in others an interest in the uses of the General Church, and in the growth and prosperity of the New Church throughout the world. Let us, in a word, realize that we are not isolated bodies, weak and feeble, but that we are parts of a greater whole, each doing his part to the performance of a great and noble use.

580




     Let us give to the general body the support of our affections, our thoughts and our interests, and let us remember that it is of order that he who gives the most receives the most.

     In all our work, in all the trials and troubles of our Church life, be it as individuals, as a society, or as a general body, let us remember the teaching of the Lord given to us in the True Christian Religion, n. 308, after the explanation of the Fourth Commandment:

     "It is to be kept in mind, that there continually proceeds from the Lord a Divine Celestial Sphere of love towards all who embrace the doctrine of His Church, and who obey Him as little children in the world obey father and mother, apply themselves to Him, and wish to be nourished, that is, instructed by Him."

     "Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be prolonged, and that it may be well with thee upon the earth."

581


Editorial Department 1902

Editorial Department       Editor       1902

     MR. LANDENBERGER'S LETTER.

     IN the letter from the Rev. L. G. Landenberger which we publish in this issue, our correspondent takes exception to our comparing the Writings to "an infinite ocean of Divine Truth," and he asks "Is not the Word the infinite ocean of Divine Truth, and would it not be correct to say that the Writings are from it?

     The Writings are, indeed, from the Word, even as the New Testament is from the Old (see A. E. 641, 670, 948), but not in the sense of being disconnected from it, but one with it, even as the water of the ocean is one with the ocean. Without the water, what is the ocean but an empty abyss? It is the truths of the internal sense that make the Letter of the Word, and the Writings are the Revelation of that Internal sense, the only Revelation of it that has been made or ever will be made. It is the water that makes the ocean, and, surely, the water is as infinite as the ocean itself.

     But, comparisons aside, does our correspondent believe that the Writings are a Divine Revelation of Divine Truth? If so, he must acknowledge that they are an infinite Revelation of infinite Truth, for what is Divine is infinite.     What folly, then, of talking about the Writings containing "only some of the infinite truths of the' internal sense!" Even if they contained only one of these infinite truths, that truth would still be infinite, and it would therefore contain within itself--all truth.

     And who shall measure the infinite,--the immeasurable? We are, indeed, to measure the city of the New Jerusalem, by which is meant that we are to investigate the Doctrine of the New Church in order to know and understand its quality, according to our faculty of reception (A. R. 904), but that this does not mean that our measurement, our receptivity, is greater than the Holy City which cometh down from above. "God giveth not the Spirit by measure," but we receive finitely, according to our measure.

     "With what measure ye measure, it shall be measured again unto you," for "those who have little affection and desire, receive little, but those who have much, receive much. The degree of the affection and desire is as the measure, which is increased to the full; more, therefore, to him who has a great measure; and less to him who has a small." (H.H.349) Those who desire to see in the Writings only "certain truths" or "a few truths" or "a drop of water," can receive only according to their desire.

     Our correspondent quotes the Doctrine of Faith to show that in the New Church we are "not to accept truth on authority, which would result in a blind faith."

582


But he fails to see that the very teaching to which he refers, clearly discriminates between human authority and Divine Authority. To the dogmatist who insisted that "the understanding must be kept in obedience to faith," the angel replied: "Do you think yourself to be a God whom I must obey," which shows that God-is to be obeyed! And the same teaching continues: "It is one thing to have faith in and to believe the Lord, and another to have faith in and to believe any man." How strange! The Convention professes to believe that the Writings are a Divine Revelation. and yet it refuses to acknowledge the Authority of that which it acknowledges to be Divine.

     To our own quotation from John iii:34: "For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God, and God giveth not the Spirit by measure," our friend objects that "these words were spoken with reference to the Lord and apply to Him alone." He forgets that the Word of God is of universal application, and that it everywhere has not only a literal but also an internal historical and a spiritual sense. The passage refers to the Lord in His Second Coming as well as to the Lord when on earth. And it refers also to all the messengers whom God hath sent to men and who spake the words of God. And surely brother Landenberger believes that Swedenborg, also, was "a man sent of God."
Monthly Review 1902

Monthly Review              1902

     THE NEW CHURCH JOURNALS.

     The New Christianity. June. The Rev. Adolph Roeder, who now is the associate editor of this journal, in his comments on the recent Convention in Philadelphia, surprises us by claiming that "the Convention has gracefully (or disgracefully, as the case may be) yielded to the allurements of the Academy, and is now, to all intents and purposes, in the hands of the Academy." [!] "Nor is this said in a spirit of caviling or of fault finding. It is the simple statement of the case, and those who are not favorably inclined toward the method of thought in vogue in the Academy are earnestly urged to consider the above statement, carefully and thoughtfully made. Those who are familiar with the workings of the mechanical part of the ecclesiastical machinery are asked to examine the Journal of the Convention when it appears, to note carefully the source of the movement which brought about the radical change in the editorship of the Messenger; to note the names and Academic tendencies of those who are in the lead in the States of Illinois, Michigan, and Ohio; to study carefully the general tenor of the various committees that go to make up the working force of the Convention; to note the fact that the Swedenborg Scientific Association is frankly and avowedly in the hands of the Academy; that although Convention extends no invitation to the Academy to attend its services, the Academy does extend public invitations to the Convention, and a large number of the Convention ministers accept the invitation and attend sessions held in the home and in the spirit of the Academy."

583




     Nevertheless, this gloomy cloud is not without its comforting silvery lining; "It has given a clearness of outline to the report of the Committee on the question, 'Did the Lord write Swedenborg's theological books through Swedenborg, or did Swedenborg write them of himself from the Lord?' and a report was produced which clearly showed that 'the thoughts were the Lord's, but the words were Swedenborg's. It brought about a decided movement among the women of the Church who have reason to feel that the attitude of the Church as to women is not among the things understood by the Academy." [A carefully veiled allusion to a most disgraceful conspiracy behind the sense.] "It brought about the appointment of two committees, the result of whose work will be looked forward to with peculiar anxiety by all who are interested in that work." After some very foolish remarks on the controversy in Sweden respecting the eternal duration of Hell,--one side being represented by Mr. Manby's printed pamphlet, and the other by a written report by Mr. Bjorck,--the associate editor concludes with a horrible blasphemy which we would not quote, did it not so clearly exhibit the real inwardness of the negative spirit: "The printed pamphlet decides that the hells are eternal, the report decides that they are not. Which of the two decisions will the Ruler of the Universe adopt to guide His future action?"

     In the August issue the editor (Mr. Spencer) repudiates his associate's favorable comments on the "clearness of thought" exhibited by the Report on the Writings. While he still hopes that the Report "may prove to be a real clearing of the atmosphere of the Convention," yet he "fears that those who received it with demonstrations of relief and joy may have understood it for more than it really means for free thought and free expression in the Church."

     "Of course, the more papal organization, called 'The General Church of the New Jerusalem,' better known as 'The Academy,' has no approving words to say. Through its organ, New Church Life, it declares that the members of the Convention 'formed an ecclesiastical court to sit in judgment upon One who had been brought before them for trial, and this One was none other than the Lord Himself in His Second Coming;' and it quotes Swedenborg's explicit testimony that 'the books were written by the Lord by means of me' and that 'the works are not my works, but the Lord's.' It is needless to say that 'The General Church,' thus holding to the absolute Divinity of the Writings, also holds to their infallibility, and regards them as final authority in matters of religious beliefs. . . . "Never was the parting of the ways more declared than now between the Academy and the Convention; but possibly the parting is mainly a matter of words." [?]

584




     Neukircheblatt. August. We translate the following from our German-American contemporary in illustration of contemporary manners and customs for the benefit of some future historian of the New Church.

     "It was, of course, to be expected that the Academicians, who for the last twelve years have raised up the doctrine that the Writings are verbally dictated by the Lord and therefore verbally inspired, would not be altogether satisfied with the Report, although it might have been expected that still they would have expressed their satisfaction at the strongly affirmative standpoint of the Report. So much the stranger, then, is the hysterical attack upon the Committee and upon the whole Convention, which we find in the July number of the organ of the Academy (New Church Life). The fact that the Committee, which had examined this question, showed that the Academy is in the wrong, was enough for the editor to altogether damn the Report and all whom he pleased, as if they had rejected the faith in the Writings and in the Lord at His Second Coming (when nevertheless in the Report they everywhere characterize and acknowledge the Writings as a Divine Revelation). The editor makes use of the trick which is not uncommon in the Academy, in that he presents the Academy and its heresy as "the Lord in His Second Coming," and then brands those who do not agree with the Academy opinion as Enemies of the Lord. In this manner the freedom of thought and of speech has long ago been destroyed in the Academy, and the Academicians imagine that they can swing that same cudgel over the whole Church, but they forget that the New Church does not consist of little children, but of thinking men and women, who will not allow themselves to be so easily intimidated by the Academical lash and anathemas, as certain Academicians seem to expect. It is significant in this connection that the July number of that sheet commences with a (thirty years' old) manifesto of Rev. W. H. Benade, who, on account of his despotism, was allowed to fall by them. It seems now, however, as if the leaders of the Academy were again lusting for the hierarchical despotism, to which with so much trouble they set some little limit a few years ago.

     "When we ourselves had to delay the publication of the Report of the Committee, in as much as we were not able to get possession of it, we had expected that New Church Life would not have dared to present it to its readers. In either case, the editor would have found good reasons for making his condemnation of it considerably milder, if he had printed the report itself together with his criticism. For even an Academician could not have approved the criticism if the Report itself had been placed beside it. We believe that the editor of New Church Life owes it to himself and to the truth, to place before his readers as soon as possible the exact text of the Report which he has attacked so calumniously and at the same time from behind. The readers would then find that the attack upon the Convention in the July number is a great crime against the duty to honor the Lord's Church and to support it, and at the same time a crime against charity to the neighbor, inasmuch as the members of the Committee are accused of saying what they do not mean.

585


With those who know the honorableness of the members of the Committee, with them all such accusations do not fall upon the Committee, but upon the editor of the sheet who makes such an accusation. Among the ministers of the New Church there are none that stand higher or who enjoy greater respect and affection from their brethren than the Rev. Messrs. Reed, Sewall, Goddard, Worcester, and Schreck, who constitute the Committee, and the mere mention of their names is enough for all who know them to cause the whole accusation that is made by Mr. Odhner to fall to the ground.

     When both the Report of the Committee and Mr. Odhner's attack shall have been published, then every rational New Churchman will easily see where the truth lies. As we have shown before, the Academy nowhere in the writings of Swedenborg finds an excuse for calling these writings "the Word of God," inasmuch as Swedenborg never does this and everywhere strongly discriminates between them, confining the expression "the Word" to the Old and the New Testament, and never using it in regard to his own writings. The idea that the writings of Swedenborg are to be called "the Word" does not come from Swedenborg, but from the later Academy, which thereby has become unfaithful to the Doctrines of the New Jerusalem and now reviles all others who do not accept their new notions. As is usual among Fanatics, they now identify their heresy with the Lord, and accuse those who do not accept it, of unfaithfulness against the Lord. To such "unfaithful ones" they believe they owe no charity. This to some extent explains their otherwise inexplicable conduct toward their brethren in the New Church, in this as in other cases, in that, like genuine Robber knights they have fallen upon the Church, without any conscience, to rend it and tear its flesh to pieces, and seize a piece for themselves. That is the only kind of growth of which the Academy, and its twin brother "the General Church" are able to boast, if we except the natural growth arising from the increase of the families. We have no desire, however, to derogate from the otherwise good qualities of the Academy [!], but we hope that their charity towards the Church of the New Jerusalem will soon again reassert and show itself."

586




     Tragedy!--Comedy!
WORD AN OCEAN AND THE WRITINGS TRUTHS FROM IT 1902

WORD AN OCEAN AND THE WRITINGS TRUTHS FROM IT       L. G. LANDENBERGER       1902

EDITORS New Church Life:

     Without desiring to enter into a discussion as to the merits, or demerits, of your comments upon the report read by Rev. James Reed before the Council of Ministers and the General Convention, as to how the Writings were written, and whether they are the Word, I wish to call attention to just one point in your article, "The Convention and the Writings," in the July issue of the Life. On page 383, after quoting from the Report such passages as state that the Writings are not the whole of the internal sense, but only a part of it, you say: "What blindness! Here men are standing by the shore of an infinite ocean of Divine Truth and they imagine that it is only some small pond, circumscribed by the human limitations of Swedenborg's own understanding, and to be measured by the little buckets of human comprehension." In this you assert that the Writings are an infinite Ocean of Divine Truth, and it seems to me, that in doing so, you are inverting the true order of thought as to the relation which the Writings sustain to the Word. Is not the Word the infinite Ocean of Divine Truth, and would it not be correct to say that the Writings are from it, given that we may "measure" it, and thus take from it according to our needs. That this is the correspondent used in the Word itself is evident from Ezekiel's Vision of the Waters, Chapter xlvii, and that we should use the measuring line we are distinctly taught, which is, of course, in agreement with the genius of the New Church to enter intellectually into the mysteries of faith, consequently not to accept truth on authority, which would result in a blind faith. See The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem concerning Faith, Nos. 1 and 2. You try to strengthen the position that "the Divine is Indivisible" by quoting: "He whom God hath sent, speaketh the Words of God, and God giveth not the Spirit by measure." You do well to leave out the words "unto him," as the common version has it, but nevertheless, these words were spoken with reference to the Lord, and apply to Him alone. And in this connection it is well to remember what the Report itself says, viz., that Swedenborg, himself, plainly states that only some of the infinite truths of the internal sense were revealed through him.

     Yours truly, L. G. LANDENBERGER,
     3741 Windsor Place St., St. Louis, Mo.
     August 5, 1902.

587


WRITINGS THE WORD OF THE LORD 1902

WRITINGS THE WORD OF THE LORD       CHAS. L. DYER       1902

EDITORS New Church Life:
     I am the son of the Rev. Oliver Dyer and began to receive the Second Coming of the Lord in 1869 or 1870. According to my comprehension the Doctrines revealed by the Lord through Swedenborg are just as much His Word as any revelation that He ever made to any one. The particulars are His Word, and the general truths containing them are. And one just as much as the other. Swedenborg was prepared by the Lord to give His latest Testament (Word). The Lord can not make mistakes. I am very glad that everybody is declaring himself. It is not intended that one shall dictate to another. Paul was cast into Hell on account of his love of rule. A regenerating person does not interpret the First Coming or the Second Coming of the Lord exactly the same in his different states.
     Very respectfully yours,
     CHAS. L. DYER, M. D.,
     178 San Fernando St., San Jose, Cal.
     August 8, 1902.
UNMISTAKABLE SENTIMENTS 1902

UNMISTAKABLE SENTIMENTS       L. H. Fincke       1902

EDITORS New Church Life:
     In your comments on the "General Convention and the Writings" you are doing a noble work for the Church and its members, whoever they may be. That is right. Keep not back the Light which the Lord is giving to those that are sincere and have at heart the welfare of the Church and are not hirelings. In the Writings we can all of us see the Light, however ignorant we be, if only we are sincere and do not regard self as all-important. There are some very cunning spirits who seem determined to wreck everything belonging to the New Church in such a sly way that the unwary shall not notice anything wrong in their doings. It therefore behooves us all to be on guard, and it is the duty of each one to fortify himself against the hirelings by studying the Writings for himself. I thank everyone who tries to keep the Church pure, and to that end leaves no stone unturned, for they are doing a noble work of charity.
     Very respectfully,
     L. H. Fincke,
     Brooklyn, N. Y.,
     July 20, 1902.
FROM THE COMPILER OF THE CONCORDANCE 1902

FROM THE COMPILER OF THE CONCORDANCE       JOHN FAULKNER POTTS       1902

EDITORS New Church Life:
     It was with much pleasure that I read your kind and only too flattering expressions of congratulation in your June number in regard to the completion of the Swedenborg Concordance.

588


In accepting those kind congratulations, which I know to be as sincere as they are kind and thoughtful, I desire to take this opportunity to express my grateful thanks for the warm sympathy in my work that has been shown by New Church Life throughout the greater part of the time I have been engaged in it. This New Church journal and magazine has taken an intelligent and appreciative interest in the Concordance from the moment of its own birth. And although if called upon to do so, I could doubtless have survived immersion in the chilling atmosphere of universal neglect on the part of periodicals of the professed New Church. I have not failed to note and to be encouraged by the kind sympathy manifested by several of the New Church journals published in the United States, and especially I must say by that one which I now most especially address. I have forgotten nothing of the kind sympathy shown me, which I value and have all along valued so highly because I knew that the ground of the sympathy and the prompting cause of the kindness was love for the Lord's New Church and a real and lively interest in her doctrines and deep and eternal truths.
     JOHN FAULKNER POTTS.
CONVENTION AND THE WRITINGS 1902

CONVENTION AND THE WRITINGS       C. T. ATHEARN       1902

EDITORS New Church Life:
     Permit me a few words of criticism on your criticism of the Committee of Ministers of the General Convention.

     You take exceptions to the statement that "in the common acceptation of the term, the Lord did not write Swedenborg's books, but Swedenborg wrote them as of himself from the Lord. In the common acceptation of the term, his writings are not the Word, but a new revelation of divine truth from and relating to the Word."

     I think your objections to these statements are purely technical.

     When we speak of the Word, in the ordinary sense, what do we mean? To those outside of the New Church we mean the Bible. Specifically we mean the books of the Bible which contain a spiritual sense, and are written in the language of correspondences. In this sense it is certain the Writings of Swedenborg are not the Word, and you do not include them when you refer to the Word.

     I can see no good objection to the statement that "in the common acceptation of the term, Swedenborg wrote as of himself from the Lord." I cannot see that this contradicts the statement that "the works are not my works, but the Lord's."

     The statement that "the Lord did not write Swedenborg's books," I understand to mean that they were not written by dictation, as the books of the Word were written.

     The statement that "the books were written by the Lord by means of Swedenborg," and that Swedenborg wrote as of himself from the Lord, I consider to be in perfect agreement.

     You object to the statement that what Swedenborg reveals "is only as a drop of water," compared to the things which could not be revealed.

589


You speak of this as a belittling of that Revelation which excels all the revelations that have been made since the creation of the world." But I cannot see that calling the revelations given to the New Church "a drop in a bucket," detracts anything from their value or diminishes their life giving power.

     "A drop in a bucket" is simply a relative term, meaning that the knowledge we possess is as nothing compared with what we do not know.

     Is not this true?

     The Lord himself says, "I have many things to say to you, but ye cannot bear them now." And is not this true now, and will it not always be true?

     Swedenborg himself said, when on his death bed, that he could have told much more about life in the spiritual world, if he had been permitted.

     This does not diminish the value of what he did write.

     I cannot see that the ministers of the General Convention set any less value on the Writings than the ministers of the Academy; and to accuse them of "denying their Lord," and "sitting in judgment" upon Him, and of being "influenced by the fear of the world," is something for which you have no authority, and is as much of an old church spirit as anything you charge against them.

Jewett, O.
C. T. ATHEARN.
CONVENTION AND THE WRITINGS 1902

CONVENTION AND THE WRITINGS       E. S. HYATT       1902

EDITORS New Church Life:
     Your correspondent, Mr. C. T. Athearn, writing of the Word in its ordinary sense, says that the Old Church thereby means the Bible, while the New Church believes it to be "the books of the Bible which contain a spiritual sense and are written in the language of correspondences." So far there is some advance from the old position; but the Light of Divine Revelation is in itself Infinite, and therefore there is always in every finite conception room to advance to what is less finite. Unless we do so we cease to realize the continual newness of what the Lord has revealed for those who are affirmatively receptive, and we stay in many of the first impressions, still much obscured by the old ones, although we may have taken a preliminary step from them. The position of Mr. Athearn seems only to have advanced such a step and to express much protest against the new steps toward a less finite conception which have been advocated in the life. We have no doubt as to this forward movement, but hope to go forward therefrom to fuller and still less finite conceptions. Receptions of life cease to be new when they cease to grow.

     Instead, therefore, of starting from the Old Church idea concerning the Bible, merely by the modification thereof generally received by the professed New Church, let us first take a general view of what the Lord teaches of His Revelation. Apart from what He has chosen to reveal, we could know absolutely nothing of spiritual life. In A. C. 8443, we are taught that Truth Divine proceeds in six discrete degrees. If we study these, we will find that the place of the Writings therein is necessary to the symmetry and harmony of the whole.

590


They may be tabulated thus:

     Discrete degrees. 1st, 2nd - Above all angelic understanding.
     In Heaven.     3rd. Accommodated to Highest Heaven.
               4th. Accommodated to Middle Heaven.
               5th. Accommodated to Lowest Heaven.
     For the Church in the world. 6th. Accommodated to the Church in the world according to the three continuous degrees of the natural plane.
                    a. The Writings-Rational. Natural.
                    b. New Testament-Sensual. Natural.
                    c. Old Testament-Corporeal. Natural.

     Here we have four discrete forms of the Word, three of which are in the heavens and one in the world. The latter is given in three continuous degrees emulative and expressive of the three discrete degrees of the Word in the heavens. These three continuous degrees of the forms of the Word are distinguished by the natural forms of presentation ultimated by the three distinct languages chosen for them, and which are the same ones that were written over the Lord on the cross, in Hebrew, Greek and Latin. These three forms of inscription represent the three forms in which the Word was to be in the world for the New Church, where internally they express the same meaning as do all the forms of the Word regarded internally. Inmostly there is no higher or lower, only the Infinite which cannot be more or less. The externals vary the accommodation to finite reception-discretely for each of the three heavens and the world, and continuously for the three planes of man's natural mind. All these forms of the Word are written in the correspondences belonging to their respective planes, even in the highest heaven, for are there not two discrete degrees even above that? It is only in perfect correspondences that the Word can be given to angel or man. Thus the natural rational expressions which externally manifest the Writings, correspond to spiritual rational things for those who seek them within the mere letter. Hence there are differences in the letter of Divine Revelation, differences in the meanings which are proximately attainable from within the various literal forms, but harmonious variety in the internal, and inmostly in each is the one and only Infinite Divine--each separately, and all taken together, are the Divine Word.

     Of the human instruments which the Lord has used for giving these ultimate forms of the Word,--the Prophets, the Apostles or Swedenborg,--it is not needful here to notice more than that each was so guided and dictated to by the Lord that the Word given in each case was not only the same Infinite inmostly; but also that the Lord provided that the external form as well was also perfect in regard to the end in view, even as to the apparent mistakes or errors. While the Lord has taken all care that each Revelation He has given is perfectly adapted to the end in view, He has taken equal care that it should not be such as to force its Divine Authority upon anyone.

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Nevertheless, voluntary or self-compelled acknowledgment of the Writings as a rational form of the Divine Word is necessary to all reception of the genuine life of the New Church.

     That there are many, infinitely many, things therein which one cannot bear now, must not be allowed to overshadow the other teaching of the Lord that He ever is more ready to give than we to receive. Infinite Itself is beyond us in each form of the Word and yet greater approximation thereto is always more ready to be given to us than we are ready to receive it. Hence to all who are really affirmative in their approach to the Writings, they are always a practically Infinite source of what they need for their own regeneration; and like every written Divine Revelation, they are His Word.

     We cannot but condemn the action which deliberately rejects this acknowledgment of the Word specially given to the New Church; though we equally acknowledge that the internal judgment of those who did it is solely with the Lord. We only contend for a principle that is vital to all real growth and advance of the New Church among men.

E. S. HYATT.
Parkdale, Ont., September 6, 1902
ENGLISH CONFERENCE 1902

ENGLISH CONFERENCE              1902

     THE General Conference of the New Church in Great Britain held its ninety-fifth session in Accrington, June 16-22, with an attendance of 32 ministers and 30 representatives Rev. J. Ashby was elected President.

     Two subjects of especial importance were discussed, namely, the Growth of the Church, and the Religious Education of Children.

     Bearing on the first subject, the Secretary had reported that "despite the fact that three Societies had ceased to meet for worship" there was yet a net increase in the membership of Conference. There appears, however, to be some discrepancy between this statement, as reported in Morning Light, and the statistical figures given in the Conference Manual; for a correspondent, "A. B.," writes in Morning Light of August 30: "The statistics recently published in connection with the General Conference and the Sunday School Union reveal a grave and sad state of things. The number of our Church members, to say the least of it, remains at a standstill.

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The number of Sunday School scholars shows positive and, I think, alarming decline, and some of our Societies are ceasing to exist and others are languishing."

     And in the same journal of September 6 another correspondent writes: "The condition of the smaller Societies in and around London is most discouraging, and unless some radical change takes place within the next few years they will cease to exist." To similar effect were the remarks of the outgoing President, Rev. J. J. Woodford, who, after reading his report, referred to the number of small societies which are either just "holding on, or quietly, but surely, losing ground," and appealed for greater attention to be paid them. "New ground should be broken, undoubtedly. The old should as certainly receive the first thought and the most generous consideration." These words suggested the lesson which past events have thus far failed to bring home to the New Church in general, that to truly increase the Church, it must be built up from within. Despite all the experiences of the past, showing a slight increase from without and an almost if not wholly equal decrease from within by defection of the young people, the discussion of the matter in Conference resulted in nothing more than a resolve to pursue the old course with even more zeal than in the past; the essential requisite of lasting growth--the encouragement of growth from within--was as usual ignored. Yet the facts reported by the Missionary Council strongly indicate the necessity of some radical change of policy. The report of the Council, while showing that there has been great activity in the missionary field where innumerable lectures have been delivered, presents a gloomy picture when dealing with the Societies under the care of the Council, repeating the tale of last year, when two Societies were reported as dissolved. The Society at Bury "is defunct;" those at Alloa, Bridgeton and Dundee "have ceased to meet," and that at Lowestoft "shows no sign of growth and the Council feels itself unable to speak at all hopefully of its future." Another defunct Society, not mentioned in this report, is that at Oldham, which Mr. Broadfield, when explaining the report of the General Council, stated that it had gone "clean out of existence." On the other hand, the Missionary Council reported a new Society at Hillhead, Glasgow (formed by ex-members of the other Glasgow Societies); the growth of the Norwich Society, particularly as regards "the number and interest of the young people;" and the revival, under a joint pastorate, of the formerly large Societies at Salford and Rhodes.

     In the discussion of the failure at Bury, Mr. Broadfield called direct attention to the number of dead Societies. Rev. W. T. Stonestreet advocated further efforts being made in Bury and attributed the recent failure to the holding of services in the afternoon. Rev. Chas. Griffiths, the first minister of the fury Society, after stating that many of the best members had died, suggested something of the real cause of the Society's decrease as being due to lack of spiritual nourishment. The Society, he said, should have had a successor when he left, but, instead, they determined to economize and build a church,-and in the meantime, they lost their congregation.

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Rev. J. Deans, who has been the active worker in the recent effort at Bury, told of the apathy of the members there. Each had been visited more than once; "thousands of cards had been distributed; the walls held our posters, and preaching was promised for twelve months after he had left. A circular was sent to each member, asking if they were wishful of continuance, but it met with no response. It would, for the present, be a waste of time to try to build up the cause at Bury.

     The general question of the lack of growth was discussed a little later in the meeting, when the report of the Missionary Council came up for consideration. Rev. C. A. Hall, speaking on the report, said: "Around us Societies are falling out of existence, partly from their own fault and partly from our neglect." Mr. Andrew Eadie thought the real fact was that "the Church, except as to a few of its members, is indifferent as to missionary operations," and he complained that the rich men were not giving as they should. Several gentlemen were then moved to reply that more support was not given because men were not satisfied that the money was spent to the best advantage. Too much was expended in traveling expenses; it would be better to confine the operations of the missionaries to less territory. Mr. Gardiner thought that a "full and fair report" would show that the missionary work had not been a failure. Rev. J. Deans supported this by citing the cases of several Societies which had been helped by the missionary minister, but not a single voice was raised to show the real reason why old societies had ceased to exist.

     And yet this reason might have been brought to the fore in the discussion of Religious Education, had that discussion really gone into the subject. But it was of a more or less superficial character, and confined almost exclusively to the question of teaching the Letter of the Word. The necessity of distinctive New Church education was not even hinted at.

     The discussion came on the report of the Education Committee that L40 had been granted to the Sunday School Union for the conduct of its annual examination, and L7 to each of three "New Church" day schools. Mr. Gardiner complained of the lack of distinctive New Church teaching provided by the Union. If he had undergone the 10 years' course of study in the Sunday School, under its direction, he would have come out, so far as the Union was concerned. "destitute of even an elementary knowledge of much of New Church doctrine." Mr. Seddon stated that the Union contemplated a plan by which all parts of Scripture attractive to children would he covered. He did not consider the Apocalypse suitable to be included. Mr. J. Robinson especially recommended the study, by young people, of comparative theology, using Brief Exposition as a text-book. Those who came to us from other churches "held more clear-cut views than ourselves, because the old and new are better defined with them." Rev. J. R. Rendell eulogized the work of the Union and trusted that the discussion would not be continued. It was moved, however, to appoint as subjects for religious examination in the "New Church" day schools, Gen. I"ii, and John ii, iv, together with the memorizing of Ps. xxvii, a part of Ps. cxxxiv, three hymns and the first sixteen questions in the Catechism.

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Mr. E. J. Broadfield spoke earnestly on behalf of a wider curriculum. He held that "it was a scandal that in any day schools only two chapters from the Old and two from the New Testament should be set for the whole year." He continued, that while we set 16 questions, in the Church of England its whole Catechism was included. In this matter we were not doing justice to the children. An amendment was presented that the subjects of study be the history of Joseph and the whole of Mark. Rev. I. Tansley opposed on the ground that "religious education was not in the time table. All the time you can get (for religious instruction) is twice a week after school hours, when it is regarded by the children in the light of a punishment." "What we should do," he continued, "is to insist on half an hour's religious instruction daily, and its inclusion in the time table. Managers of the day schools can have this done if they like. But this important suggestion seemed far too radical to receive any consideration. On the amendment being carried, in spite of some opposition, Rev. E. C. Newall exclaimed that the day schools would give up the grant rather than comply with the terms and thus undertake additional responsibility. Rev. J. Deans called attention to a rule that for six months the Scripture lessons in day schools should be "as far as possible" based the S. S. Union examination subjects; but Rev. W. T. Lardge held that the schools would have to give up such teaching on account of the smallness of the grant. This was supported by Rev. T. Howarth, who said further, that a former reduction had led "to the religious education being given up in two days school." Rev. J. R. Randell thought it "a shame that teachers elected by New Churchmen should withhold Scripture teaching from over 400 scholars for the sake of a few pounds."

     Consideration was then given to the question of reappointing the committee appointed last year "to enquire into the whole question of New Church day schools, especially with regard to giving greater attention to religious instruction." Is it a sign of the interest of our English brethren in this all-important question, that this Committee, composed of five representative men, had not held a single meeting up to the time of Conference, and, of course. it had nothing to report? Discussing the reappointment, which was subsequently made. Rev. J. Tansley pointed out that "in some day schools no religious instruction was given 'for fear of the radical party."' Mr. (now Rev.) A. Wilde truly presented the situation when he said "The day schools of the New Church have drifted away from the New Church." and this had caused him surprise and sadness. Rev. W. Westall added that in former times ministers had given the religious instruction.

     Throughout the discussion not a single word appears to have been said as to the teaching, in the day schools, of the doctrines of the Church. Even Old Church Schools teach the Scriptures, and many of them do so far more than the English "New Church" day schools.

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And yet this is all that was regarded by the speakers as essential to New Church Schools. The discussion has made it clear beyond a doubt that the New Church day schools in England are New Church in name only. They are "New Church" schools carried on without the slightest conception of what constitutes New Church education. Is it a wonder that Societies die out?

     The Committee on the Indexing of the Intellectual Repository reported the practical completion of its work, which would soon be ready for the printer. The committee also recommended that a similar index be prepared for New Church collateral literature.

     The report of the Committee on Liturgical Services excited, as usual, a lively discussion. Mr. Gardiner strongly objected to the inclusion in the new Liturgy of the Anglican Book of Common Prayer. "Visitors should not be misled to think we have nothing distinctive." Rev. R. R. Rodgers maintained that since no one could challenge either the truth or the beauty of the Prayer Book, opposition to it must spring from prejudice. Only a dullard could fail to see the difference between the service as adapted, and that in use by the Church of England. It was then voted to incorporate the Prayer Book and to print an experimental edition of the complete Liturgy.

     The Magazine Committee called attention to the falling off in circulation, and suggested as "a possible way of popularizing the Magazine" that "general literary and scientific articles not distinctly New Church in character be included." The editor. Rev. J. R. Rendell, questioned the propriety of such a step, while Rev. A. E. Beilby supported it as having proved beneficial in the past. Rev. J. G. Dufty maintained that all the articles should be distinctly New Church, though not necessarily theological. Rev. T. Child pleaded for the "indirect" method in presenting subjects.

     Conference then passed a resolution advocating the extension of week night doctrinal classes for young people. Speaking to this motion, Rev. C.A. Hall said it might be passed as "a pious hope, but we were all aware that the day had gone past when these were able to attract our young people."

     Applications for the ordination of Mr. A. Wilde and Mr. A. J. Wright were granted. Mr. Wright was ordained on the following Sunday by the President. Mr. Wilde's ordination was performed a week later at Heywood. Rev. R. R. Rodgers officiating. Conference also granted the application of the Kearsley Society for the recognition as "leader" of Rev. S. H. Ferguson, a convert from the Old Church. Previous to this grant, Mr. Broadfield stated that the Applications Committee "had had an interview with Mr. Ferguson, who had satisfied them on all points on which explanation seemed necessary." Mr. Ferguson is the gentleman who is actively working with Kearsley ministers of all denominations in the conduct of open-air services.

     The proposal, made by the General Council, to raise the contributions of members of Conference from sixpence to one shilling a year was the cause of much debate.

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The fact was brought out that while almost all the Societies paid the charge, the individual members did not. Rev. C. Griffiths states that his Society took no interest whatever in Conference; and Rev. W. Westall noted that ever since per capita charges had been instituted they had helped to cut down the membership of Societies. Eventually the question was referred to the Societies for consideration.

     The re-election of Mr. F. Heath as Treasurer called forth the interesting statement that the Treasurer of Conference administers funds to an amount exceeding L93,000 ($465,000).

     The usual Conference service was held on Tuesday evening, June 17. "At the sacrament which followed, in addition to Rev. J. Ashby and Rev. J. J. Woodford, who officiated at the altar, there were twelve other ministers, all surpliced, to distribute the elements to about 200 communicants who remained after the service."
Church News 1902

Church News       Various       1902

     FROM OUR CORRESPONDENTS.

     Bryn Athyn, Pa. At the celebration of the Nineteenth of June (which was commemorated by afternoon services in the Academy Chapel, and by a subsequent banquet in the Gymnasium Hall) the pastor, Mr. Synnestvedt, announced that he had resigned from the pastorate, and that the resignation had been accepted by the Bishop of the General Church. The reasons for this important change were, 1. Mr. Synnestvedt's increasing desire to devote himself exclusively to the work of New Church Education, which had been his first and chiefest love; 2. The pressing necessity of providing for a headmaster for the parish school, in Bryn Athyn; and 3. The need of some one taking charge of the Academy's dormitory for boys. Mr. Synnestvedt had received and accepted the call to fill these two offices. The news was received by the congregation with somewhat mingled feelings; resignation at the inevitable; regret at losing his able and faithful services as pastor; and satisfaction at the prospects of seeing the educational work gaining an efficient and enthusiastic laborer.

     Under the new arrangements, the Bishop takes general charge of the now vacant pastorate, and will, himself, conduct the Friday evening doctrinal classes. The congregational classes, the Friday evening suppers, and the Sunday services, will henceforth be conducted in the Academy building. It is also proposed to have simple, but regular services on Sunday evenings, to be held, as in the mornings, in the Academy's Chapel. Candidate Wm. B. Caldwell has been engaged to assist the Bishop in the worship and in the office of preaching.

     During the summer the services were kept up by the Rev. E. C. Bostock and the Rev. Emil Cronlund, in the absence of Mr. Synnestvedt, who spent the greater part of his vacation in attending the Summer School for teachers at Harvard University, where he studied especially the principles and methods of Pedagogy and the history of Education.

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On his return, September 1st, he and his family moved into the new dormitory building, which originally had been intended for the girls, but now to be occupied by the boys. We know not the exact reasons for the change; perhaps the new building is stronger. The girls, in the meanwhile, will rejoice in the undisputed possession of the old dormitory, which is much prettier, but will allow the boys to visit them at mealtimes, if they behave with their customary dignity. The girls' dormitory will remain under the charge of Mr. and Mrs. Bostock, who, this year, will have about forty young and consequently very hungry guests at their hospitable pension.

     During the summer a circular was sent out by the president and the treasurer of the Academy, inviting all interested to subscribe to a fund for scholarships in order to provide the means of a New Church education for worthy young people who have the desire to receive the benefits of the Academy Schools, but who are wholly or partly lacking in the necessary financial resources. According to the calculations of the Treasurer, a contribution of $5,000 will be sufficient for the complete and perpetual maintenance of one scholarship, while a contribution of $200 will be sufficient for the support of one scholar for one year, and one hundred contribution of $2 will effect the same purpose. Here, then, is an opportunity for every member of the Church to show his or her practical interest in the work of New Church education. Here it is where "every dollar counts," for every dollar will do an essential part in enabling some eager and ardent young soul to spend at least one year at the "Alma Mater," where one year means so much and has such an indelible effect upon the whole natural and spiritual life of every one of her sons and daughters. Here is the opportunity for assisting in a "missionary" merle of the very best and surest kind. What this means for the progress of New Church education may be seen from the fact that the contribution of one such scholarship has this year enabled four young people, who lacked just a little of the necessary means, to attend the Schools. Several other contributions have been received, and as a result the Schools are this year more numerously attended than ever before. This fact is in itself a sufficient reward for the affections of the donors, and in this connection there are brought forcibly to our minds these words of the Lord: "And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only,. in the name of a disciple,"--that is, whosoever shall provide for them instruction in natural truth for the sake of a spiritual end,--"verily I say unto you, he shall in nowise lose his reward." (Matth. x: 42.)

     Much work has been going on during the summer, in and around the Academy School building. The library has been still further arranged, classified, and catalogued. An attempt has been made to do something for the long-neglected museum, and some of the offices have been fixed up in very good style. But it is outside the building that the improvements are most evident. The roads have finally been finished, and the grounds roundabout have been leveled and sown with grass, so that the whole "campus" now has the appearance of an immense and neatly kept lawn. Trees and shrubs will next be cut in, to break the monotony of the wide expanse, and vines to trail up the rocky walls of the great building. It looms up now like a errand prophecy upon the horizon. What a beauty it will present a few years hence!

     A new and exceedingly neat house has been completed in the southwestern corner of the grounds for our faithful janitor and time-honored friend, Mr. Van Horn. The sound of music makes that neighborhood sweet to linger in at all hours of the day--and night. The family of our night-watchman, Mr. Soderberg, has moved into the farmhouse formerly occupied by Mr. Van Horn, and the same house is also shared by the family of Mr. Dallas Van Sickle, who has come to up from the idyllic heights of "the pilgrims' rest" on the "delectable mountain."

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     Another, and most comforting acquisition, is that of Dr. and Mrs. Cooper, who have removed from Philadelphia, and have rented Mr. Synnestvedt's house, where the doctor can now be seen every afternoon, between 5 and 6.

     A new residence is now being erected in the "settlement" for the Rev. Alfred Acton and family. It is beautifully situated on the hillside between the house of Mr. Wells and the club house, and has been promised ready for occupation in December.

     Professor Doering has spent the summer in and around Allentown, where he has put his Mathematics to test in the work of practical surveying in the congenial company of Mr. Chas. D. Weirbach. His family, in the meantime, has been on a protracted visit to the ancestral home in Middleport, O.

     Mr. Pitcairn, accompanied by his son, Raymond, and Prof. Odhner, on July 5th started out for a piscatorial tour to troutiferous Nova Scotia, and returned, much invigorated, and wiser but not sadder men, a month later. Their experiences, or at least their account of their deeds among the trout and the cod and the moose and the bogs and frogs, were such as to change the confidence and the complexion of their stay-at-home brethren. Mr. Pitcairn started off immediately for a trip to Belgium and Sweden.

     The Schools of the Academy opened their twenty-sixth school year on Monday, September 15th, with forty-six pupils in attendance. The local or parish school opened on the same day with fifty-seven pupils. There are thus, at present, over a hundred children and young, people attending the New Church schools at Bryn Athyn. We believe this "breaks the record" in the entire history of New Church education. Last year there were 35 pupils in the Academy Schools, and 45 in the parish school,--in all 80. Now let us hear from the other parish schools.
E. L.

     Philadelphia. On June 15th our pastor officiated for the first time in the administration of the Holy Supper. There were twenty communicants. After service, a vote of thanks and appreciation was given to the unknown benefactor who has furnished flowers for the altar every Sunday. This was the last regular service, although there will be meetings on Sunday mornings during the summer after Mr. Cronlund's return from Canada. It is proposed to find a secluded place in Fairmount Park and have informal service, or reading, followed by a picnic dinner. The young folks' doctrinal class will also continue its weekly meetings during the summer. Circumstances made it inexpedient to have any celebration of the 19th of June here, but some of us went to the services and supper in Bryn Athyn.
C. H. E.

     Pittsburg. The Rev. Walter Brickman's Society, in Allegheny, had a picnic on July 10, at Castle Shannon. to which the members of the Pittsburg Society were cordially invited. About 150 persons, including members of both Societies, were present, and an enjoyable day was spent.
E. C. L.

     Erie, Pa. The circle in Erie has continued its meetings all summer, with very fair attendance and interest, much enhanced lately by a very welcome visit from Rev. R. W. Brown, of Pittsburg, who stopped with us for several days on his way back from Canada. He preached for us on Sunday, August 24th, with an audience of 28, and on Tuesday, the 26th, baptized the infant daughter of Mr. and Mrs. S. G. Beckman, at their home, with most of the circle present; a pleasant sociable, with refreshments, following the service.

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     On Monday, the 25th, we picnicked across the bay, on the peninsula opposite Erie, at the "Flash" Light house. (There was nothing at all "flashy" about the picnic, except the fire that boiled the coffee on the beach.) We all hope that Mr. Brown can be spared to visit us again in the not distant future.

     We have also had as visitors several of the friends from Renova, including Mr. and Mrs. Kendig, Mr. and Mrs. Swartz and Mr. Roscoe Kendig, wife and child, from Cleveland. Only yesterday we had a friendly call from Mr. Homer Bellinger, now of London, Ontario.
E. C.

     Glenview and Chicago. The Holy Supper was administered in Chicago on Sunday, June 15th, and in Glenview on the evening of the 18th: both services were well attended.

     On June 19th our annual banquet was served at the Glenview club house to about eighty Chicago and Glenview members. On the afternoon of the 20th the children celebrated with a banquet of their own, the older people being but onlookers. Both occasions were very useful, as well as very enjoyable.

     The 19th of June marks the close of our season. The School closed on the 13th with a very successful class day, and in the same week the Wednesday and Friday classes were discontinued until fall. Service will not be held in Chicago during the summer, but will not be discontinued at Glenview.

     Miss Clara Hanlin was very much missed by both teachers and children during the last month of school, and she has the heartfelt sympathy of all in the trial she has undergone.

     Glenview is at present being honored by a number of visitors.

     Rev. Mr. Gladish and family, of Indianapolis: the Wallenberg family, of Chicago, and Miss Mitchell, of New York, are here for the summer; while Rev. Mr. Klein and family, of Middleport. O.; Miss Luelle Pendleton, of Bryn Athyn, and Mrs. E. Boericke, of Pittsburg, are paying us somewhat shorter visits.
L. E. G.

     Parkdale. The 19th of June was celebrated here by a supper in the evening, followed by a social. The following toasts were duly honored: "The New Church Universal" (Rev. E. S. Hyatt): "The Uses of Anniversaries" (R. Carswell) ; "The New Education" (R. B. Caldwell); "The Last Judgment" (P. Bellinger); "Loyalty to the Doctrines" (C. Brown), and "The Priesthood of the New Church" (Rev. W. B. Caldwell). Dancing, interspersed with musical selections, brought the very pleasant, as well as profitable, meeting to a close.

     On the Sunday following the "Nineteenth of Tune service" was used, including the sinning of the 18th and 19th Psalms. With the assistance of an orchestra of three violins, the service was rendered very effective.

     Our School closed on June 17th with the usual exercises, the compositions of the scholars being listened to with much appreciation. The following day the children, accompanied by the pastor, enjoyed an outing in High Park.

     On the 24th of July another picnic to High Park. in which the old and young participated, proved to be a very enjoyable outing.

     It has given us great pleasure to have with us a number of visitors from distant cities, including Rev. and Mrs. C. T. Odhner. Rev. and Mrs. A. Acton. Rev. R. W. Brown, Rev. W. B. Caldwell. Mr. and Mrs. Asplundh and several others, affording opportunity for many pleasant gathering in the homes of our members.
C. B.

     Berlin, Ont. The meetings of the Council of Ministers and of the Teachers' Institute furnished our Society with one of its most interesting experiences. Many of the meetings were open, so that everyone had an opportunity of enjoying them. The variety of topics discussed, the freedom with which individual opinions were brought forward, stamps them as somewhat different from previous meetings.

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Our Society is unanimous in voting them one of the best intellectual feasts we have ever had.

     Mr. John Ruby, of Houston, Texas, while visiting his brother in Berlin, also paid a visit to our Society. A men's meeting was given in his honor, at which he related some very interesting and affecting experiences with a number of friends who are studying the Doctrines.

     The local school opened this year with an attendance of 43 pupils,--an increase of five over the attendance of last year.

     We are glad to report the arrival of Mrs. Stebbing from England. She intends staying with her son for some time.

     The combined quarterly and yearly meeting of the Society was held on Sunday, September 14th. Besides matter of local interest it was decided to invite the Ontario Assembly to hold its next annual meeting here on New Year's Day.
R. W. S.

     Ontario, Can. Sunday. June 15, was an interesting occasion for the little circle of New Church believers in the city of Hamilton. The Rev. John E. Rowers passed three or four days visiting among our people in this vicinity; and on the date lust mentioned held services at the house of Mrs. Brierley, including the minister, fourteen persons were present. All seemed to be devout worshipers of the Lord, and the sermon was much appreciated. The sacrament of the Lord's Supper was administered, in which all reverently took part. Our Hamilton friends are in earnest, though proceeding in a quiet way. They hold meetings every Sunday at the house of Mrs. and Miss Brierley, for reading and conversation. Mr. William Addison is the leader.

     Colchester, England. We have secured a room for the exclusive use of the Society, and it was made ready in time for Mr. Czerny's fortnightly visit, on March 2d. On Easter Sunday (March 30th) Mr. Czerny administered the Holy Supper, the number of communicants being 14. In order to meet the strong desire of the members of the Society to have services every Sunday, Mr. Czerny suggested that on the Sundays when he is not present, we meet together and read the Apocalypse Explained. This suggestion was adopted, and the first reading meeting was held on the following Sunday, April 6th.

     We were much pleased to receive a visit from the Rev. E. C. Bostock, who came to Colchester on Saturday, April 26th, and remained with us a week. On Sunday he preached to a congregation of 56 persons, and baptized the infant daughter of Mr. and Mrs. W. E. Everett. In the afternoon the usual children's meeting was held, when Mr. Restock Rave a very interesting and instructive address in explanation of the Hebrew of "Shema Israel."

     On Tuesday evening there was a men's meeting to consider the future uses of the Society, and on the following evening Mr. Bostock conducted a doctrinal class.

     On Thursday evening Mr. and Mrs. Motum gave a social at Mr. Gill's studio, at which 18 were present. In proposing the toast to "Our Visitor." Mr. Locke expressed the great pleasure we all felt at having Mr. Bostock again with us, and recalled his labors in the past, which were so much appreciated by us. Mr. Bedwell spoke also to the same effect. Mr. Bostock, in reply, while expressing his appreciation of our personal regard for himself, attributed this to our affection for the Church, and he emphasized the fact that this affection forms the strong bond between us. He dwelt upon the necessity of cultivating mutual love, that the Church may continue to grow in our midst. Later in the evening, giving general response to the two toasts "The Priesthood" and the "General Church of the New Jerusalem," Mr. Bostock made plain the truth, that, in the government of the Church, autocracy on the one hand and democracy on the other were both to be avoided, and that while the Priesthood is the first of the Church, it is only so as it serves goods and truths.

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Many passages from the Doctrines were referred to.

     Mr. Bostock returned to London on Saturday, May 3d. It was a source of very great pleasure to welcome once more our pastor, councillor and friend, after an absence of nearly five years.

FROM OUR CONTEMPORARIES.

     UNITED STATES. The Rev. James Reed, on July 20th, ordained Mr. Herbert C. Small, a recent graduate of the Convention's Theological School at Cambridge.

     The New Church Summer School of Almont, Mich., was held this year amid beautified surroundings and with increased teaching force and accommodations. The teachers, this summer, were the Rev. Messrs. Schreck and Whitehead, and Mr. James R. Hamilton. Miss Lillian Beekman, also, spent some time here and took part in the work. On the opening day, a new flag of the school was raised, the assembly singing the first verse of the song. "Our Glorious Church." Distinctive badges of red and white were distributed to each scholar.

     The Urbana University has secured the services of Prof. E. G. Dodge, an M. A. of the University of Chicago, to fill the vacancy in the classical department caused by the resignation of Prof. D. J. Lothrop. Regrets are expressed at the fact that the new appointee "is not a New Churchman, but in spite of the efforts of the school to get a properly qualified New Churchman, the one or two whose names mere presented had nothing higher than the bare A. B. degree, and this was distinctly below the standard the school has set." How strange! The lack of the M. A. degree disqualifies a New Churchman, but the lack of New Churchmanship is not "below the standard" which this New Church school has set for itself.

     From the annual report of the American Swedenborg Printing and Publishing Society, of New York, we learn that the society has secured the services of the Rev. J. F. Potts in a new translation of the Four Doctrines. Mr. Ager is engaged on a new version of the True Christian Religion. Substantial assistance has been given to the publication of the Arcana Coelestia in Swedish and the Divine Providence in Danish. The society has received notice of the bequest of some $15,000 from the late J. C. Scott, of Illinois, but the will is as yet in litigation.

     GREAT BRITAIN. The Society at St. Heliers, Jersey, recently celebrated its 80th anniversary. The Pastor. Rev. J. Meck, B. A., gave some interesting particulars respecting Capt. Gomm. R. N., who was the founder of the Society.

     The ninety-second annual meeting of the London Swedenborg Society was held in the society's rooms in Bloombury street on June 10th. The secretary's report of the last year's work is an interesting document and gives evidence of the continued activity of the society in translating and distributing the Writings and collateral literature. Over 3,800 copies of the Writings have been delivered during the year, including copies in the original Latin, and translations in English, French, Welsh, Russian, Dutch, Italian, Icelandic, Arabic and Hindi. Among the many presentations of sets of the Writings and other works to Libraries, we note presentations to the Royal Libraries of Stockholm and Copenhagen, and the Imperial University Library, of Tokyo, Japan. In these cases the gifts included sets of Tafel's Documents and of the Documents and of the Swedenborg Concordance. The English translation of Swedenborg's work, De Infinito, will shortly be issued in a style uniform with the Latin edition.

602


For this translation Rev. L. F. Hite at the request of the society has written an Introduction, which will be prefaced to the translation. But "while desiring a new introduction suited to the reader and student of philosophy of today, the Committee has determined to retain the former introduction from the able pen of Dr. Garth Wilkinson, especially as the one will in no way interfere with the matter contained in the other." The report announces the preparation by Rev. W. Rees of a Welsh translation of the last two parts of Four Leading Doctrines; and, also the acquisition, by purchase from the translator, Rev. A. T. Boyesen, of the complete MS. of the Apocalypse Revealed in Danish. The society has also taken over the work on The Brain--"the stock and moulds of Vols. I and III together with 144 pp. already printed, of Vol. III and the MS. notes as left by Dr. Tafel to complete it; further, the MS. of the text of Vol. IV on the Diseases of the Brain. The Rev. James Hyde, who has already dealt with a portion of Vol. III. has been appointed to see that volume through the press." The text of Volume IV will be "carefully revised and then the Committee will endeavor to secure for it a competent editor and annotator among specialists on the pathology of the brain." The report records the receipt of three legacies, aggregating $72,000, being the largest increase in its funds ever received by the society in one rear.

     The principal subject occupying the attention of the meeting was a plan, proposed in the Committee's report, for the promotion of the reading of the Writings by the young people. This plan contemplates a course of reading to be laid down by the society, an annual examination thereon and the award of prizes to candidates securing a given number of marks; the candidates to be in two classes,--those of 25 years and under and those of 20 years and under. In justification of this new and remarkable step which it recommended the society to take, the Committee says that it is "fitting that a society for translating, printing and circulating the Writings should also aim at securing their study especially among young men and women of New Church parents." A resolution was passed, recommending the plan to "the attention of all members and friends of the society;" and a subscription of $55 was announced towards carrying it out. In supporting this resolution Mr. F. A. Gardiner said, among other things, that the Sunday School provides for children and introduces them into the rudiments of "Swedenborg's distinctive teaching," but stops short "just as the maturing minds begin to grasp what distinctions there are between the old and new philosophies." Reading meetings, etc., provide "desultory reading" as a continuation; but this is inadequate, and the result is that a well-read New Church layman was becoming a rara avis. He thought by the adoption of the plan advocated such a state of things would be prevented. This, however, was only a single step, yet he hoped it would lead to the society's exercising in time a powerful influence upon the intellect of the Church, and indirectly upon the thought of the age. He referred to the possibility in the "distant future" of the prizes becoming scholarships at one of the great universities where there will be a chair of Swedenborg's Philosophy.

     SWEDEN. The Nineteenth of June was celebrated, this year, by the two societies in Stockholm. Pastor Boyesen's congregation celebrated the day by a picnic in the country; it was also the twenty-fifth anniversary of Pastor Boyesen's removal to Sweden in order to take up the evangelistic work there. Pastor Manby's society held its celebration in the city, the pastor speaking on the text, "And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with Me from the beginning" (John 15: 27); he applied these words to the apostleship in the New Church as well as in the early Christian Church.

603




     During the summer Mr. Manby made a missionary journey through the most northern part of Sweden, above the polar circle, but found the ground as difficult to work spiritually as it is naturally. Still, a number of the Writings were sold, and a few receivers were found.

     Pastor Boyesen's society has received notice of a bequest of 10,000 crowns from the late Herr C. P. Morck, of Falun, to form the beginning of a fund for the erection of a New Church temple in the southern part of Stockholm.

     At Gottenburg, also, the "New Church Day" was celebrated by Pastor Rosenquist's society by a delightful picnic in the woods. A number of strangers and visitors from abroad have been present, lately, at the services, among these Mr. E. H. Bayley, of London.

     AUSTRIA. Our readers will recollect the article by Dr. Max Neuburger, of Vienna, on Swedenborg's physiology of the Brain, which was published in our June issue. They will now be interested to learn that the author, who is a "privat-docent" at the Vienna University and editor of the Wiener Medizinische Wochenschrift, has lately communicated with the Swedenborg Scientific Association, and has expressed a desire to translate Swedenborg's work On the Brain into German.
Chicago Assembly 1902

Chicago Assembly       N. D. PENDLETON       1902


Announcements.




     The Chicago District Assembly will be held at Glenview. Cook Co., Ill., on October 31st and November 1st and 2d. N. D. PENDLETON, Secretary.
Pittsburg Assembly 1902

Pittsburg Assembly       REGINALD W. BROWN       1902

     The Second Pittsburg District Assembly will be held in Pittsburg, from Thursday, October 23 to Sunday, October 26, 1902. All members and friends of the General Church, residing in Western Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia, are invited to attend. Visitors will be entertained by the members of the Pittsburg Society.
     REGINALD W. BROWN, Sec.,
     500 Neville St., Pittsburg, Pa.
Philadelphia District Assembly 1902

Philadelphia District Assembly       HOMER SYNNESTVEDT       1902

     The second annual meeting of the Philadelphia District Assembly will be held in the Academy's Chapel, at Bryn Athyn, on Sunday, October 19th, beginning with worship and continuing during the afternoon and evening. Dinner will be provided by the Bryn Athyn Society, and a cordial welcome is extended to all the members and friends of the General Church within this district. HOMER SYNNESTVEDT, Secretary.
House for Sale 1902

House for Sale       GEORGE G. STARKEY       1902

     For sale, at Bryn Athyn, Pa., near the centre of the New
Church settlement, a small frame house, with six rooms: modern conveniences. Lot, 75 feet front by 130 feet deep. Price, $2,500.
     Intending purchasers desiring occupancy should write at once, as I am likely soon to rent the property on lease, after which I could not give actual possession before the expiration of the lease.
GEORGE G. STARKEY
Bryn Athyn, Pa.

605


SOME TEACHINGS RESPECTING "AUTHORITY" AND RESPECTING THE AFFIRMATIVE PRINCIPLE AND THE NEGATIVE 1902

SOME TEACHINGS RESPECTING "AUTHORITY" AND RESPECTING THE AFFIRMATIVE PRINCIPLE AND THE NEGATIVE              1902


NEW CHURCH LIFE.
VOL. XXII.
NOVEMBER, 1902.
No. 11.
I. THAT THERE IS SUCH A THING AS "AUTHORITY" IN THE NEW CHURCH.

     "For as the Father hath life in Himself, so hath He given to the Son to have life in Himself; and hath given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man."*
* John v:26, 27.

     "And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine. For He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes."*
* Matth. vii:28, 29.

     "And they were all amazed, insomuch that they questioned among themselves, saying, that thing is this? What new doctrine is this For with authority commandeth He even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him."*
* Mark i:27.

     "And they said unto Him, By what authority doest thou these things And who gave thee this authority to do these things! And Jesus answered and said to them, I will ask of you one question, and answer Me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John, was it from heaven or of men Answer Me. And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven, He will say, Why, then, did ye not believe him? But if we shall say, Of men; they feared the people: for all men counted John, that he was a prophet indeed.

606


And they answered and said unto Jesus, We cannot tell. And Jesus, answering, saith unto them, Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things."*
* Mark xi: 28-33

     "The interpretation of the Word is not to be left to the Pope's determination alone, as has come to pass [with the Roman Catholics], for thus the Divine authority of the Word is perverted and perishes."*
* D. P. 742.

II. THAT "AUTHORITY" IN THE NEW CHURCH DOES NOT MEAN BLIND OBEDIENCE TO HUMAN DOGMAS, BUT AN AFFIRMATIVE SPIRIT TOWARDS DIVINE REVELATION.

     "With those who are in the spiritual affection of truth there is an internal acknowledgment of it. As the angels are in that affection, they utterly reject the dogma that the understanding must be kept in obedience to faith, for they say, 'What is it to believe what one does not see to be true?'

     And if one urges that still it ought to be believed, they reply, 'Do you think yourself to be God, whom I must obey? or that I am insane enough to believe a statement in which I do not see the truth? Then make me see it.' And so the dogmatist withdraws. Angelic wisdom consists solely in this, that the angels see and comprehend what they think."*
* D. F. 4.

     "It is one thing to have faith in and believe in the Lord, and another to have faith in and believe any man. The difference shall be told below."*
* D. F. 7.

III. THAT THE AUTHORITY OF DIVINE IS FOR THOSE WHO HAVE ACKNOWLEDGED REVELATION AND HAVE BEEN CONFIRMED IN THE TRUTH.

     "At first the cognitions of faith cannot but be confirmed by sensuous things and natural truths, for a man cannot believe without things that confirm; but afterwards, when they have been confirmed, the Lord bestows conscience upon man so that he believes without things that confirm; he then rejects all reasonings."*
* S. D. 3977.

607




     "The first principle of the confirmation of a truth is t hat it is called Divine, for then an idea of what is holy is present which gives a universal confirmation to each and everything that is declared, and this even though these things be not comprehended."*
* A. C. 3388.

IV. THAT IT IS A GREAT MISTAKE TO THINK THAT WE MUST NOT BELIEVE ANYTHING THAT WE DO NOT FULLY UNDERSTAND

     "That at this day a man ought to believe what he does not see is evident from the Lord's words to Thomas, in John. 'Thomas, because thou hast seen Me, thou hast believed; blessed are they who do not see, and yet believe.'"*
* A. C. 5508.

     "The things which are of faith are arcana which it is our duty to believe, even though we do not understand; and if we do not believe in the Son we cannot escape being condemned to hell."*
* S. D. 857.

     "We must believe the truths spoken by the Lord and concerning the Lord, even though we are not able to penetrate them by reason. The desire to deny because we cannot penetrate by the reason, is like a desire to deny the procreations of trees from seeds and of animals from eggs. Hence it may be seen what kind of a faith a man has who believes nothing but what he sees, as is common at this day, especially among the learned."*
* S. D. 2727.

     "If we to believe only in what we understand, we should believe only in what is false, even in regard to merely worldly and bodily things. How, then, can any one say that he will believe nothing. in regard to spiritual and celestial things, which he does not understand?*
* S. D. 860.

     "It happens very often that spirits want to enter by reasonings into the mysteries of faith, and are not willing to believe that the thing can be thus, unless they have grasped it by the understanding. It was given to tell them that still we ought to believe even though we have not grasped it by the understanding, and that it is inverted order when we are willing to believe because we have understood."*
* S. D. 2725.

608




     "As, therefore, the human understanding is full of fallacies arising from the corporeal senses, to such a degree that it is there is nothing but darkness, it is a wonder that any one of a sound mind should be willing to state that he will believe nothing unless he perceives it, in respect to the things of faith, or which are of light, or which are of heaven, or, above all, in respect to things which are Divine."*
* S. D. 861.

     "To regard the Doctrine of faith from rational things is not to believe the Word or the Doctrine thence derived until we are persuaded by means of rational things that it is so. But, on the other hand, to regard rational things from the Doctrine of faith, is first of all to believe the Word or Doctrine thence derived, and afterwards to confirm the same by means of rational things. The former is the inverted order and results in this that nothing is believed; but the latter is genuine order, and causes us to behave better."*
* A. C. 2568.

     "They who incline to a life of evil, fall into the negative; but they who incline to a life of good are led into the affirmative."*
* A. C. 2588.

V. CONCERNING THE NEGATIVE AND THE AFFIRMATIVE IN GENERAL.

"There are two principles,--one which leads to all folly and madness, and another which leads to all intelligence and wisdom. The former principle is to deny all things, as when a man says in his heart that he cannot believe such things until he is convinced of their truth by what he can comprehend or be sensible of; this principle is what leads to all folly and madness, and may be called the negative principle. The other principle is to affirm the things appertaining to doctrine derived from the Word, as when a man says and believes with himself that these things are true because the Lord has said so; this principle is what leads to all intelligence and wisdom, and may be called the affirmative principle."*
* A. C. 2568.

     "The worldly and corporeal man says in his heart, 'Unless I am instructed concerning faith and everything relating to it, by the senses, so that I may see them, or by means of science, so that I may understand them, I will not believe;' and he confirms himself in his incredulity by this fact that natural things cannot be contrary to spiritual things.

609


Thus he desires to be instructed in what is heavenly and Divine from what is sensual, which nevertheless is as impossible as it is for a camel to go through the eye of a needle; for the more he desires to grow wise by such a process, the more he blinds himself, till at length he comes to believe nothing, not even the reality of spiritual existences or of eternal life. This is a necessary consequence of the principles which he lays down, and this is to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, of which, the more he eats, the more thoroughly he is destroyed. But, on the other hand, he who desires to grow wise from the Lord and not from the world, says in his heart that the Lord must be believed, that is, the things which the Lord has spoken in the Word, because they are truths, and according to this principle he regulates his thoughts. He confirms himself in his belief by rational considerations, by science, and by facts derived from nature and the experience of his senses; and he rejects from his thoughts every idea which does not tend to its confirmation."*
* A. C. 128.

VI. CONCERNING THE NEGATIVE PRINCIPLE IN PARTICULAR.

     "To believe nothing, or to acknowledge no spiritual truth unless we see and perceive it through natural philosophy, or, as they say, unless all things are demonstrated to the senses, is entirely forbidden."*
* S. D. 2301.

     "They who reason concerning truth from a principle not affirmative or from a negative principle, destroy all things of faith."*
* A. C. 3923.

     "Those who start with a negative state never believe, because the negative principle reigns universally with them, and when it reigns universally, those scientifics which deny, inflow and are collected together, but not such as confirm; the latter are thrown aside, or are explained so as to favor the negative principle, and thus the negative principle is confirmed."*
* A. C. 6383.

610




     "In regard to Doctrine the case is this: in so far as the truths thereof are believed merely from what is human, that is, from what is sensual, scientific and rational, in so far it is no doctrine at all. But in so far as what is sensual, scientific and rational is removed, in so far the doctrine is alive, for in the same proportion the Divine flows in. It is that which is proper to the human that hinders the influx and the reception."*
* A. C. 2538.

     And the prince of thy people thou shalt not blaspheme' (Ex. xxii:27). Hereby is signified that neither ought the Doctrine of truth to be blasphemed. . . . Divine truth is the Word, and is the doctrine from the Word. They who deny these in heart, blaspheme, even though with the mouth they praise the Word and preach it. In the denial lies concealed the blasphemy. . . . Therefore, with the man of the Church the first of all principles is to believe the Word."*
* A. C. 922.

     "They who are in negation concerning the truth of what is written in the Word, and who say in their hearts that they will believe when they are persuaded by things rational and scientific, are in such a state of mind that they will never believe,--no, not even when convinced by the bodily senses as by the sight, the hearing, and the touch; for they always frame new reasonings against such convictions, whereby at length they totally extinguish all faith, and at the same time turn the rational into darkness, because into falses."*
* A. C. 2588.

     "In the other life they who remain in the negative are readily distinguished from other spirits by this, that on every subject relating to faith they reason whether it be true or not true, and, though it be shown to them a thousand and thousand times to be true, still they raise arguments of a doubting negative nature in opposition to every confirming proof, and this forever. They are in consequence blinded to such a degree that they are bereft of common sense,--that is, they cannot comprehend what is good and true."*
* A. C. 2588.

611




VII. THE TRUE ATTITUDE TO BE TAKEN BY THE MEMBERS OF THE NEW CHURCH TOWARDS DIVINE REVELATION.

     "To-day there were some who desired to enter even into the inmost mysteries of faith, and it was given to show them that this was the wrong way, and that the truth is to believed BECAUSE IT IS THE TRUTH, and if no reason should enter or be found, still it is to be believed; and if any reason should be found, still it is to believed."*
* S. D. 2726.

     "It is clear and certain from experience that a thing is not to be doubted because the appearance is different and because the causes are not known. Thus there are very many things in nature which are established by experience and which are to be believed because they are true,' as, for instance, the fact that men can sail around the globe, and from the fact of the antipodes. Who in the world would entertain any doubt concerning these things merely because it is contrary to the appearance, or because he is not acquainted with the reasons? There would then be innumerable similar things in nature which he would not believe, when nevertheless these things are so."*
* S. D. 2545.

     "It is not allowed to ratiocinate from reasons concerning the truth of a thing, and the truth is not to be invalidated or denied, as is often done, if no reasons are found, but it is to be believed because it is the truth. If they want to investigate the reasons they can do so; it is not forbidden; only, if they do not find out the reason, and when then various things inflow which cannot be solved, the truth is not on that account to be denied. Thus in the case of almost all things in nature which we see with the eyes and take in by the sense,--if they were to deny everything because they have not found out the cause, nothing would be regarded as natural truth, in any of the kingdoms of nature."*
* S. D. 2651.

     "'Noah being drunken' signifies that he fell into errors [by his desire to investigate the doctrines of faith by means of reasonings]. Those are called 'drunkards' who believe nothing but what they comprehend and on this account investigate the mysteries of faith; in consequence of which they necessarily fall into errors, since they are under the guidance of sensual, scientific, or philosophical knowledge only.

612


The spirits who are in a faith grounded in charity are readily distinguished from those who are not. Those who are in such a faith do not dispute about its truths, but say that they are so, and confirm them as far as they can by the experience of the senses and by scientific and analytical reasoning; and when any obscurity intervenes which they cannot make clear, they set it aside and never permit it to lead them into doubt, urging as a reason their own very limited capacity and hence the folly of thinking that a thing cannot be true because they do not comprehend it. Such are they who are in charity. But those, on the other hand, whose faith is not thus grounded, are only desiring to dispute about it and to know how it can be proved, urging that unless they know why it is true, they cannot possibly credit it. From this circumstance alone they are instantly discovered to have no faith at all, and as a proof of it, they do not only doubt, but in their heart they even deny; and, when instructed how it is, they still continue obstinate, heaping errors upon errors and starting fresh objections; and they would if possible persist in doing so to all eternity."*
* A. C. 1072.

     "With those who are in a negative principle,--that is, those with whom the negative universally reigns,--doubts cannot in any wise be removed, for with them one scruple avails more than a thousand confirmations; for one scruple is as a grain of sand placed close before the pupil of the eye, which, although it is single and small, nevertheless takes away all the sight. But they who are in the affirmative,--that is, those with whom the affirmative universally reigns,--reject the scruples of falses which are contrary to truths; and if there are any which they do not comprehend, they reject them to the sides and say that they do not yet understand them, but still they remain in the faith of Truth."*
* A. C. 6479.

613


DIVINE REVELATIONS 1902

DIVINE REVELATIONS       Rev. ALFRED ACTON       1902

     And with many such parables spake He the Word unto them, as they were able to hear it. But without a parable spake He not unto them; and when they were alone He expounded all tings to His disciples. Mark iv, 33, 34.

     In the New Testament, we obtain an ultimate, even a sensual view, of the infinite love of the Lord to the whole human race. From that love He Himself came on earth in order that men might be saved, and during His life on earth He was ever engaged in teaching the truth which should save then?. He addressed the Jews, He spoke to the gentiles; His words were adapted to the learned and also to the simple and ignorant. To all, He spake the words of the Divine Truth "as they were able to hear it." And when any man, from the love of truth, wished to enter more deeply into the meaning of those words, the Lord freely expounded all things unto him. From His Divine love and compassion He continually taught the truth in a manner adapted to the comprehension of His hearers--of those lost ones whom He had come to save.

     In the verses before us, we are taught that this instruction was given in the form of parables, and that "without a parable spake He not unto them." The word "parable" means a comparison, a likeness, a simile. A man speaks in parables when he uses a fictitious narrative or an allegory which can be readily understood, to express or illustrate the thought he would set forth. Such is the parable as used by men. But the parables of the Lord, while in general appearance the same as those of men, being figurative and allegorical illustrations of the truth, are essentially very different. They are Divine, the others are human, and between the Divine and the human no just comparison can be made. Every word that the Lord spoke was the Divine Truth clothed in language in perfect correspondence with itself. From His tender love and compassion He willed that the Divine truth should be revealed to men that by it they might be uplifted, and being conjoined with Him, might enjoy the blessedness of heaven; and knowing that that Truth as it is in itself is incomprehensible to man, from that same love and compassion operating by infinite men, was yet so ordered that the Divine Truth shone through it, wisdom, He clothed it in language, which, though the language of men, was yet so ordered that the Divine Truth shone through it, and appeared in it as the soul appears in the body.

614


Such was the speech which the Lord used when on earth--not the speech of a man imperfectly conveying ideas themselves imperfect and obscure,--but the living speech of God in every word of which the Divine Truth appeared to all who had ears to hear. And, therefore, as men, when they saw the Lord Jesus Christ, saw God Himself in human form, so when they heard our Lord speaking, they heard the Divine Truth itself clothed in ultimate ideas and in natural words.

     It was so with the parables which the Lord spake. They were not as man's parables,-general allegories and figures--but they were narratives in which each and every word was significative and representative of the Divine Truth itself; they were narratives in which the Divine Truth was set forth, such as it is in its operations on the lowest planes of life. Thus in the parable of the Sower who went forth to sow, the Lord's Love and Wisdom operating to implant the Word in man's heart, and to vivify it that it may there bring forth eternal fruit, is set forth in a narrative of a similar, or rather of a correspondential operation on the plane of matter; for that same Love and Wisdom which teaches and leads man to heaven flows also into the very ultimates of Nature and there causes the seed to germinate according as it is received, and to bring forth fruit after its own kind.

     By the use of parables our Lord was able to set forth the Divine Truth before the meanest, the lowliest, and the most ignorant of His hearers--men who were so ignorant and so sensual, that they could have understood nothing had the Lord spoken in the language of rational thought. All the parables are such that the simplest man can understand them, and can see in them the moral truth which they teach. If he receives that truth in his life because it is delivered to him by the Lord Jesus Christ, it is, with him, no longer a merely moral truth, but, infilled with the acknowledgment of the Lord, it becomes spiritual-moral, and works for the production of that Heavenly fruit which shall be his salvation. It was because the Lord must be acknowledged before the truth taught in the parables could be seen, that is to say, before, from being merely moral truth or the truth of the world, it became more or less spiritual truth or the truth of heaven,--it was because of this necessity for the acknowledgment of the Lord, that our Lord introduced Himself into so many of His parables, and this in such a way that the most ignorant of His hearers could at once see that He referred to Himself.

615


He is the Sower who went forth to sow, He is the Vinedresser, He is the careful Shepherd of the sheep, the kind father of the prodigal son, the Heir of a kingdom. How plain it is that when men hearkened to and obeyed the truth given in these parables because they were spoken by the Lord.--how plain is it that they received and perceived the Divine Truth made manifest. In no other way could they have received it at that time. Our Lord spake the Word unto them in Parables "as they were able to hear it."

     And in this, we have indicated to us another use which the Lord accomplished by speech in parables, namely, the preservation of the evil from worse states of evil. For since the acknowledgment of the Lord Jesus Christ was necessary to the seeing of Divine Truth in the parables, therefore to those who refused such acknowledgment these parables were mere allegories. Many, if not all, of the Jews who rejected the Lord, accepted in the abstract the moral truths which He taught in parables; but to them, there was no Divine Truth within. Hence, when they rejected those moral truths in their life, they rejected, not the interior truths of heaven, but a more ultimate manifestation of these truths. Thus, by the parables, they were prevented from seeing and rejecting interior things, and thus casting themselves deeper into hell. The Jews were withheld from any perception of the Lord in the parables, and were kept in the idea of a mere man claiming to be their Messiah, and representing himself in allegories as a careful shepherd, a kind father, a powerful king. Not that the Lord kept the truth from them, for it is never His Will that Truth shall be kept from man; but He presented it to them in such a form, that while they might have seen it had they willed, still it should not be forced upon them. That the Lord did not withhold the Truth from them is clear from a reading of the New Testament; for therein it is seen that the Lord always explained His parables to all who asked of Him. His disciples, and numbers of those who were with them, did come to Him for explanation and instruction, and they were taught; but the unbelieving Jews were never of this number.

616




     The Lord might, indeed, have taught in such a way that all who heard Him would have been compelled to recognize that He was God and His Words the Divine Truth; He might have taught, as, later, He taught His disciples, with that powerful manifestation of the Divine Sphere which induced Thomas, in humble fear, to cry out "My Lord and my God!" But the result of such a manner of teaching would not he in accordance with the ends of the Divine Love. Thus taught, the simple would have seen the Lord and His words as far above their comprehension, and hence would soon have receded from their suddenly acquired faith; while the evil thus compelled to accept what they loved not, would have been still further enraged, and their hatred of heaven stirred to deeper depths. That such would have been the state of the evil we call see at once, if only we look into our own hearts; for there will we find the constant tendency to feel greater anger against the truth, and hence against him who teaches it, the more we are convinced that it is the truth. Paradoxical as it may seem, it is yet the fact, that the more the evil see the truth the more they do not see it, but closing their eyes confirm themselves against it.

     Thus the parables of our Lord are a manifestation of His Infinite Love and Mercy to the evil as well as to the good. By one and the same means he withheld the former from hell as far as was possible, and the latter He instructed in the Divine Truth as far as they could be brought to see it. This the Lord Himself teaches in Matthew: "Therefore speak I to them in parables, because they, seeing, see not, and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand;" and then, turning to His disciples, he showed that these parables were also the means of instruction in the Divine Truth, for He adds, "But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear." "And with many such parables spake He the Word unto them, as they were able to hear it."

     Viewed in a wider sense, the word "parable" as used in our text signifies more than what has been indicated above, as you will readily see if you have followed me thus far. For since a Divine parable is the setting forth of the Divine Truth so as to be seen on a lower plane, it is evident that the letter of all Revelation is, in a wide sense, a parable. Revelation is the manifestation of the Divine Truth not as it is in itself, but in a form and on a plane adapted to those to whom it is given; in which form all who will can see the truth as it is in heaven, and all who will not are prevented from seeing it.

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In this wider sense the whole of the Old and New Testament is a parable, yea, the Writings themselves are parables. That the whole of the New Testament is a parable, the Lord plainly teaches; for He says, "But without a parable spake We not unto them," and this although He often taught without using a parable in the strict sense of the word.

     It is a law of the Divine Providence that no one shall be admitted into the truths of faith except so far as he can be held in them to the end of life. From this law it is that all revelation of Divine Truth is made in a manner so veiled that the evil will not see the Divine within, lest seeing they profane, and yet so clear, that the good may see the Lord within, and, approaching, learn from Him alone; in other words, that all revelation is made in the form of parables. To give such a revelation is the work of infinite Wisdom, and this is a work which, in the revelation itself, can be seen by man only in places here and there, and as it were through a glass darkly.

     To put this truth in another way: All revelation is the manifestation of the Divine Truth in some Divine Natural form, within which is the Word or the Lord Himself, and which is, therefore, the Lord Himself appearing. This form is always such that the evil see merely the form, as the Jews saw merely the Human in our Lord; while the good see the Divine within the Form, and, seeing, receive enlightenment and instruction immediately from Him.

     As we are taught in the Writings: Revelation is effected mediately by means of the written Word, and by preaching and teaching from in and also immediately by the Lord Himself speaking in His Word to the heart of all who approach Him. (D. P. 172.) The mediate revelation is meant by the parables without which "spake He not unto them;" while the immediate Revelation is meant by His "expounding all things to the disciples when they were alone;" for the disciples represent those who, from the love of the goods and truths of the church, approach the Lord in His Word.

     By revelation made in this form, not only are the evil kept from rushing into more internal evils, and the good enlightened, but the church which is to be established by the revelation is protected from the attacks of evil men, for these, were they forced or permitted to see the Divine within the revelation, would hate it and pervert, defile, and profane it, and thus destroy the nascent church.

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The vital importance of this protection will be seen more clearly if we keep in mind that when a new revelation is made evil abounds on the earth.

     Revelation is always given when the Divine Truth has been lost from the earth, that is, when the former revelation has been perverted and destroyed by a vastated church. And the Revelation then given is first offered to the vastated Church itself, because there is the Word, and the Lord wills that man should see Him in His Word. So great is His love for the human race, so great His desire that all men, even those who have rejected Him, may yet never lose the opportunity to repent and approach Him, that He appears to the vastated Church, speaks to it in a new voice, exhorts it to repent of its evils and to see and follow Him alone. And yet, foreseeing that few will accept Him, therefore, from His Divine Wisdom, He so appears, that, as far as possible, none shall see except those who will believe. By parables He speaks the Word, and by those parables He also prevents the blind from seeing and the deaf from hearing. Those to whom He reveals Himself, those whose eyes and ears are blessed, He then withdraws from the old Church, that from them may be established a new Church which shall worship Him alone. For we must bear in mind that although from the Divine Mercy the new revelation is always first offered to the old and vastated Church, the result is not, nor can it ever be, the restoration and revivication of that Church, for were this possible the Church would not be a devastated Church, nor would a new revelation have been necessary. But the result is that the Church is still further devastated by the rejection of what is offered, being thus withheld by the Lord from the danger of profanation; and that the remnant of the good who are still in its folds are gradually withdrawn to form with their Lord one flock and one shepherd.

     History abundantly confirms this view as to the course of Divine Revelation. To the Ancient Church, the Lord Revealed Himself in the truths that had been seen by the Most Ancient Church.

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But this revelation was offered first to the vastated Church of the Most Ancients, but only Noah and his sons were found who would receive. These were withdrawn to the Ark, and they and their descendants were taught by the Lord so that as the Church grew with them, they saw Him more fully in the Revelation He had given them. And when the Ancient Church came to an end, the beginning of the new revelation was offered by Lot to the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah, and by Moses to the Egyptians. These nations, corrupt descendants of the Ancient Church, were exhorted to repent and to believe on the Lord that the): might be saved. Yet they believed not, save a remnant. The revelation was rejected, the old Church utterly destroyed and the remnant withdrawn and formed into a new Church. At the end of the Jewish Church the Lord came, and He at once addressed Himself to the Jewish Church. Therefore His first appearance was in Jerusalem, where as a boy He sat in the Temple and disputed with the doctors and offered them instruction. Therefore so much of His subsequent teaching was delivered in Jerusalem and in the synagogues of the land of Canaan, for by these Synagogues are meant the Word and hence the Jewish Church where was the Word. He continually exhorted the Jews to repent and, turning, to obey their Lord and Master, but they would not. A similar course was followed by the disciples after the Lord had ascended into Heaven. They began their work of evangelization by preaching the Gospel to the Jews; and the very beginning of that work which resulted in the conversion of three thousand souls, was effected in the Temple itself. It was only as the remnant was withdrawn out of the Jewish Church that the preaching to the Gentiles was developed. And even while the Lord was on earth, those who accepted Him were instructed from His mouth, and to them He gave light that they might be enlightened to see Himself only in that Revelation which He had given to the world. "And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets He expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself." "And when they were alone He expounded all things to His disciples."

     We are not directly and specifically informed as to what the things are in which the disciples were instructed on those occasions when they were alone with their Lord; but they are sufficiently indicated to us by the writings of those disciples, and of that Apostle of the Gentiles who was taught by them.

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In those writings we find abundant evidence of the instruction given by the Lord, as to the internal things of the Word; things which are set forth so plainly, that, now that they are shown to us by the explanations given in the Writings, we are filled with wonder, that that Church which was Christian in name only, should have overlooked, misunderstood or perverted them; we are silent with holy awe of that Divine Wisdom which could give revelation in such a form, that, while the good were instructed, the evil seeing nothing were more blinded.

     When the Church established by the Lord came to an end, the new revelation which was then made through Emanuel Swedenborg was addressed to the "whole Christian world," and an invitation was extended to it to come into the New Church. As, in His first coming, the Lord made His first appearance and gave His first teaching in Jerusalem, so in His Second Coming, He appeared in the midst of the vastated Christian Church and taught, and exhorted that Church to repentance and to a reception of Himself. The Revelation by which He appeared was written in a tongue understood by the men of that Church; the books in which that Revelation was given were sent by Swedenborg himself to the learned bodies of that Church; they were translated into many languages, and were and are even now being distributed broadcast throughout the Christian world. All this has been done in the Lord's Providence, not that the devastated Church will thereby be revivified, but in order that the Lord may draw out the remnant, and from them may establish a New Church. It was no doubt for this same reason that in the early days of the New Church men like Mr. Clowes were permitted to preach the Lord in the very temples of that Church which had rejected Him.

     And this revelation, given for the New Church, was like the former revelations, written in the form of a parable--using that word in its widest signification. Not a parable as compared with the parables spoken by the Lord, but a parable as compared with the truth itself. The Divine Truth was set forth in a manner so veiled that it was adapted to the comprehension of those to whom it is given. It was given in a form in which the good can see the Lord Himself, and approaching Him in this His word, can receive instruction from Him alone; and yet this is at the same time a form in which those of the vastated Church who like the Jews of old have rejected and crucified their Lord, can see nothing Divine.

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In the Divine Mercy the form of the Revelation was a parable that the good might be instructed, and the evil protected from profanation.

     To the men of the New Church to whom the Writings are so clear, so rational, so true, it is difficult to realize that they are as. it were a parable by which the eyes of the blessed are enlightened, and the eyes of the blind made more blind. But the truth is forced upon us.

     We look on the world around us and see how the Writings are received,--Writings clear, plain, rational and true. They are the Work of Infinite Wisdom; time, money and labor are unstintingly given to present them to the Christian world, and this for over a century, and by learned and loyal men; and what is the result? Behold the few who receive, and the many who, seeing see not, and hearing hear not, neither understand; and this in spite of the fact that to the rational man, those Writings bear on their face the evidence of their Divine origin. Let us again look about us, and, behold! another picture. A sect sprung up within a few years,--a sect whose doctrines are obscure, irrational, insane,--a sect based, like the New Church, on claims of a new and immediate revelation from Heaven, but claims, supported neither by the Word nor by human reason enlightened,--and yet a sect which is attracting universal attention, and whose adherents outnumber by far those of the New Church. When we consider the rapid spread of Christian Science,--to say nothing as to other sects of the Old Church,--and compare it with the slow growth of the New Church, can we doubt that the Lord in His Infinite Wisdom has spoken in His revelation by parables that they of the vastate Church seeing see not, and hearing hear not,-that the good may be enlightened, and the New Church be protected from the falses with which it is surrounded?

     It is not that the Lord has spoken obscurely,--it is not that His revelation is given with any uncertain voice, or with any grave mystery, that it is rejected. Even in His Parables, the Lord spoke to the Jews with no uncertain voice, and in His miracles He gave them no obscure sign of His Divinity, and yet he was rejected and crucified.

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In His Second Coming, as in His First, the Lord is rejected, not because of any obscurity in His appearance, but because that appearance is true, and men love not the truth.

     And, foreseeing this, the Lord has revealed Himself in a form such that evil men shall reject Him at once, rather than in a form which shall force men to a belief they do not feel, and thus to a more interior development of their evils. Viewed in this light, the Divine Revelation now made is a wonderful manifestation of the Lord's loving kindness to the evil, and a stupendous monument of His Divine Wisdom. And the corrections that occur in the writing of that Revelation, the apparent mistakes, the plain and unpolished language, the apparent redundancy and repetition, and above all the appeal which it makes to the spiritual rather than to the natural man, are so many signs of that Wisdom which speaks in parables that the blind may see not, and that the seeing may learn the Word.

     The Lord might have spoken to the Jews as He spoke privately to the disciples; and, in His Second Coming, He might have given His Revelation in a form which would convince even the unconvincible. But at what expense? Human freedom destroyed,--conjunction with God forced, nay, not conjunction, but bondage,--and, final act of all, an outbreak for freedom on the part of man, a mighty avalanche of hatred against the Lord, which, rejecting all appearances, shall strive to dethrone Him and shall itself be buried in the ruins of the universe.

     "And with many such parables spake He the Word unto them, as they were able to hear it. But without a parable spake He not unto them; and when they were alone He expounded all things to His disciples."

     In more than one passage in the New Testament are we taught that the Lord instructed His disciples privately, i. e., when they were alone. But this does not mean, even in the literal sense and still less in the spiritual, that they enjoyed means of approaching the Lord denied to the Jews. The Lord knows no favorites. "He maketh His Sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust." The Divine Truth,--the blessing of heaven and conjunction with the Lord, is offered equally to all. The whole Jewish Church was called to repentance, to see in Him who was born in Bethlehem, the Son of God, and to see in His words the speech of God.

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The disciples heeded the call, the Jews rejected it. Many, if not all, of the disciples were themselves Jews, and we find in the New Testament no hint of the Lord having given them any special teaching or any special sign by which they were first induced to follow Him. On the contrary, from the things which they heard, and the miracles which they saw in common with all the inhabitants of Palestine, they recognized and believed that He who spoke and did was the promised Messiah, and of their own accord they came to Him for further enlightenment, or of their own accord they followed Him when He invited them. It was after they had come to Him, after they had acknowledged Him as the Messiah, that He taught them "when they were alone" so that then they were made able to see more clearly that He was verily the Christ and that His words were the Divine Truth itself. The Jews had equal opportunities of coming to Him as the disciples had; and one of them, Nicodemus, did come, and he was instructed "as he was able to hear." But the Jews, unlike the disciples, rejected Him in words and deeds; they sought no wisdom from Him, but continued in their unbelief.

     It is similar at this day. The Word of the Lord is given freely to all, but only to those who approach the Lord therein, does the Lord "expound all things privately. "To expound" signifies in the text in the natural sense, to unfold and explain the meanings of the parables; in the spiritual sense it signifies to enlighten man that he may see the interior things given by the Lord in His Revelation; and in the supreme sense it signifies to be enlightened to see the Lord Himself in that Revelation, that is, to see the Divine in the Divine Human. This enlightenment can only be given by the Lord to the disciples, to those who having heard His words and seen His deeds, believe Him to be Divine,--men who are in the love and desire for the goods and truths of the Church. And to these it can be given only "when they are alone." For by these words is signified the immediate presence and influx of the Lord. This immediate approach to the Lord by which alone interior instruction can be received is to be found in the Word of Divine Revelation, and there alone.

     The revelation is given to all, it is in very sooth the very speech, the Word, the Voice of God, but it is not the Lord's Voice to those who will not hear that voice.

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Only those who have a genuine affection to learn the truth of God, who are truly His disciples, can hear the Divine Voice in that Revelation, and only to these does the Lord make His immediate presence known, and immediately instruct and enlighten them from that presence in His Word, that they may see the genuine truths of the Word. And when they were alone, He expounded all things to the disciples." The rest who do not desire the truth of heaven have the Word indeed, they hear the words of the Lord, but they do not know Him; they see Him walking about in their streets, and know not that God is among them. Such is the man of the New Church who receiving the Lord's Divine Revelation does not from the desire of truth approach Him alone in that Revelation.

     When the Lord was on earth, he expounded His Word to the disciples by word of mouth, appearing to them in flesh and blood. But now that the Lord no longer appears in corporeal form before the eyes of men, He none the less expounds all things of His revelation by word of mouth to all who approach Him. That Revelation coming to our external man teaches about God and about heaven, and it is only when we acknowledge the Divine within it and from that acknowledgment obey it that the Lord can be immediately present with us and show us the truth itself in that Revelation. The Lord's external presence with man is evident to the senses, in the doctrines which He has revealed; His internal and immediate presence in those doctrines is also real, though it be not evident to the external senses. For if man approaches the Lord in His Word, His Divine presence is at once manifested in the perception of the truth itself. "And when they were alone, He expounded all things to the disciples." This is the truth which is taught in the whole of this fourth chapter of Mark. The seed of the Sower is cast over all the land, but only in that good land which receives it is it vivified and bears fruit, and this from the Lord alone even while man sleepeth and knoweth it not. The first acknowledgment of the Lord, little at first, but increasing in the light of Heaven, is the grain of mustard seed which shall grow to a great tree; and it is the immediate presence of the Lord in His Word with man, which, by giving him interior enlightenment, shall still the turbulent waves of the proprium which rise up and threaten man's spiritual life.

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     How shall we approach the Lord that He may thus be with us and instruct us? Do we so approach Him by accepting the Divine Revelation? by studying it? by proclaiming it? by believing it to be true? It may be so, and let us pray to the Lord that with us it be really so; but let us bear in mind that all these things, study, preaching, yea, even believing the Word, may be merely external and may be unaccompanied by any acknowledgment of the Lord. For a man may accept the revelation to the New Church because of his training, because of friends, because he does not think of spiritual things, or because that revelation is pleasing to a logical mind. And often after attending the meetings of the Church, in conversation and discussion, when we examine the secret recesses of our own heart, are we forced to despondently doubt whether there is any affection of truth within us; whether our affection is rather an affection for a logical system of doctrine than for the very living Truth; and whether that affection is inspired by the praise of man rather than by the love and fear of God: and we ask ourselves the question, How may I receive and be led by the genuine love of truth? The Lord gives us the answer, that it is not sufficient to accept His Revelation, for this is but the form in which He is to be seen, but we must take up our cross and follow Him; we must hate father and mother and brother and sister, all the generation of our own evil passions, for His sake; we must learn to realize day by day that this glorious Revelation now given for the New Church is not given to us as New Churchmen, but it is given us that by it we may become true men of the Church; it is not given to us that we may be in a light superior to those around us, or that we may debate and discuss this or that point, the meaning of this or that passage. This latter is useful, for by it the ground of our mind is made more fertile for the reception of the seed from the Lord. But it is given us that we may see the Lord and be saved by Him. And it is impossible to realize this unless we look to the Lord and shun evils as sins. This is the whole of religion, the whole of the New Church. It is necessary that we recognize the Lord's Revelation and accept it as Divine that we may learn its doctrines--but we must manifest the genuineness of our reception and acknowledgment by a life in accordance with those doctrines. If man examining himself with humbleness of heart shun evils as sins against God, he sees the truth not only in the Word outside himself, but also within himself; he sees not only the form, but also the truth itself.

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For then the Lord Himself is with him and expounds all things privately; gives him a perception of the truth itself such as no preacher can give though he were gifted with the voice of a thousand Nestors,--such as the reading of no book can give, though it were written by the wisest of men. By the preacher and by the books of His revelation the Lord puts the truth before us that by it we may come to Him and conjoin ourselves to Him; but it is He alone speaking immediately to us who call give us to see from our very heart, from inmost perception, that it is true. By the truth from the Word, from books and preachings applied to life, we must approach the Lord, and as we on our side thus approach, the Lord approaches to us and conjoining us With Himself expounds all things to us privately. "If any man open the door I will enter into him and will sup with him and he with me."

     Brethren, sometimes during the year it is our duty to seriously consider this question of our attitude to the Lord in His Divine Revelation. Are we of the number of those of His disciples to whom He expounded all things, or are we of that multitude which first receiving His words spoken in parables left him after a time. For, as sure as the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, so sure is it that unless we see and perceive the truth itself within us and from our heart, we will forsake the New Church after a time, whether it be in this world or in the next.

     It is a question which we must ask not in the company of men nor in the fear of men, but in the presence of the Lord alone. If we are in humility we cannot but answer this question with fear and doubt, for none but God knoweth the heart of man. But, my friends, let us not, therefore, despair, but let us rather the more look unto our Heavenly Father who teacheth us that His yoke is easy and His burden light,--that it is easy for a man to live the life of heaven if only he will shun the evils of his heart as sins against God. May our prayer be that He will ever lead us to see Him in His revelation, and be taught of Him alone, that we may be numbered among His disciples.-Amen.

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EDUCATION 1902

EDUCATION       Rev. ANDREW CZERNY       1902

     THERE is no race or people on the earth, which believes in a God and a future life, which has not some knowledge and perception of the fact that man's life on earth is a preparatory state. A knowledge and perception of this truth has existed from ancient times, even among those outside of the Church, who of course received it from the Church. In the Christian world, too, it is known that man has an immortal soul and that his life in the body is only a preparatory state, but the perception of this truth is gradually perishing, especially among the more cultivated, and with many it has perished to such a degree, that they can perceive nothing that cannot be scientifically demonstrated. And as the perception and hence conviction concerning the reality of the future life is dying out in the Christian world, there are few who regard this life as a preparatory state, but look at it as the end of man's existence.

     Now the teaching is, that he who denies God and the spiritual things of the Church closes heaven to himself; and to close heaven to oneself is the same as to close the internal mind. And when the internal mind is closed, so that nothing from the Lord can flow through it into the external mind, there is nothing of the truly human in the latter. For the teaching is that "man is man from what he has through the internal from the Lord; but...the external separated from the internal is in itself nothing else than a wild beast; it has a similar nature, similar cupidities, similar appetites, similar phantasies, and similar sensations." (A. C. 272.)

     But man's spiritual mind may be closed, and he may be such as just described, as to his interiors, and still appear a man in outward form, speech and manners. For even when the interiors of the mind are closed, the exterior mind with its faculties remains, which may be cultivated, and trained to initiate the truly human. Man has still the power to think and to speak, i. e., he can learn to think and speak about various things, civil, moral, and even spiritual.

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He may speak in their favor, and may act as if from a love of them. In short, the external mind separated from the internal may be trained to exercise every civil and moral virtue. But there is nothing of the truly human in all this. As long as the two minds are separated, so long man is a man in outward appearance only. Though he have the power to think, to speak and to act from freedom, the abuse of these faculties separates him from the Lord, who is the source of all that is truly human, and he who abuses these faculties remains merely external. His internal mind, which is an image of heaven, is closed; and his external, which is an image of hell, alone is open. (A. C. 6013.)

     Now the teaching is, that the spirit of man is the real man. There is also the teaching, that man as to his spirit is in the society of the angels and spirits; that he has communication with spirits by interiors, but with men by exteriors (T. C. R. 495); that he thinks from the light of the spiritual world, and loves from the heat of that world (D. L. W. 92); and many more things to the same effect.

     All this is unknown outside of the New Church. It is unknown that man is a spirit, and has communication with spirits by interiors; nor is it known that he thinks from the light of the spiritual world, or loves from its heat. Hence there is no perception of the fact, that man's life in the world is a preparatory state; and that the state which he acquires during his life in the world, remains to eternity.

     And yet without a knowledge of these things, no one can have a correct idea of the true end of education. He who has no knowledge of these things is ignorant of the things most essential to know in the work of education; namely, that man has an external and an internal mind; and that the faculties belonging to the latter need to be trained for use, as well as the faculties of his external mind

     For every faculty, whether physical, mental, or spiritual, must be trained before it can perform the functions for which it is intended. But as there is no knowledge or perception of the faculties of the interior mind outside of the New Church, modern education limits itself to the training of the faculties of the external mind. The scientific and imaginative alone are cultivated; of the rational and the spiritual nothing is known.

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A certain external rational, however, more properly called the power of ratiocinating, is cultivated by many. It is the power of confirming whatever man pleases; particularly the power of reasoning against truths. It is a power much admired at the present day. Those who are most skillful in using it are considered enlightened above the rest.

     But let us see what the teaching is on this point. We read:

     "The genuine rational consists of truths, and not of falsities. That which is from falsities is not the rational. There are three kinds of truth; civil, moral, and spiritual. Civil truths relate to matters of law,... in general to what belongs to justice and equity. Moral truths relate to such matters as belong to the life of every one with respect to society, and his intercourse with others; in general to sincerity and uprightness; and specifically to virtues of every kind. But spiritual truths relate to heaven and the Church; and in general to good, which is the object of love; and to truth, which is the object of faith. There are in every man three degrees of life. The Rational is opened to the first degree by civil truths; to the second by means of moral truths; and to the third by means of spiritual truths. But it is to be known, that the rational is not formed and opened from these by man's knowing them, but by his living according to them; and by this is meant to love them from spiritual affection." (H. H. 468.)

     Thus without some spiritual affection it is impossible for man to become truly rational.

     Again we are taught, that "the rational is like a garden and flower-bed, and also a fallow-field. The memory is the soil; true scientifics and cognitions are the seeds; the light and heat from heaven causes production; and without them there is no growth." (H. H. 464)

     This simple comparison shows, how man is to be made truly a man; that the rational (or the truly human) is to be formed by true knowledges; and in order that it may grow and develop, it must be under the influence of the heat and light of heaven.

     And the true end of education is to lay the foundation for this rational. It cannot do more than this. It can do what the term implies. It can "draw forth" the faculties implanted in man; can train and develop them, so that man may be enabled to use them, when he arrives at the age of maturity.

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The rational itself is the state acquired by the exercise of these faculties. Education, therefore, is only a preparatory work. But although only preparatory, it is an important work, not only as far as man's preparation for this life is concerned, but even more so as to man's preparation for the other life. Its importance, as far as the former is concerned, is seen by every man, even the most external, but the latter is seen by the spiritually-minded only.

     The world call do all that is necessary towards man's preparation for a merely external life. Modern education is for this life only; for an external life separated from the internal. It can do nothing in any way to draw out man's internal faculties for the formation of the truly rational, or of the spiritual. On the contrary, it is apt to do much to hinder this work. It is apt to close the mind against the influx of the light and heat of heaven, without which, as we have seen, these faculties cannot be formed. Indeed, this seems to be the effect upon most young minds. Nor can any other result be expected, from any kind of education, which is based upon a false idea of God, or which recognizes no God at all, however perfect it may be in other respects.

     The natural man conjoined with the spiritual man is a full man. The natural mind so conjoined is in the light of heaven. Separated from it, it is only in the light of the world. And the world separated from heaven is hell; its light is from the same source.
HOPE 1902

HOPE       Rev. EMIL CRONLUND       1902

     GENUINE trust in the Lord is possible with those only who live the life of charity, for no others can look to the Lord. Trust in the Lord comes only so far as evils are removed, and therefore this trust is something that grows gradually. It is the offspring of temptations successfully overcome. And when trust in the Lord enters into man, then he also receives a firm hope in the Lord's promises, that is, a confident expectation of eternal happiness for those who keep His Commandments. Thus neither can the hope of eternal happiness exist except with those who fight against their evils, for it is the result of combat. It is said in the Epistle to the Romans that "tribulation worketh patience; and patience experience; and experience hope."

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It is also said in Jeremiah that he is blessed or happy whose hope the Lord is, for a genuine hope of eternal life is a sign that man has at least begun his regeneration and that he is in a state of preparing himself for a life in Heaven. No one can begin to shun evils as sins unless there be in him the hope of overcoming them, and this hope is inspired by the Lord Himself, who tells us in His Word to be hopeful and of good courage, because He has overcome the world.

     Hope is the confident expectation of that which is desired. It is the seeing of the effect, not in the effect, but before it, or not in the present, but in the future. In order that we may have hope of eternal life, we are told of that life in the Word, and it is there described to us. We are thus enabled to have a foreknowledge and a foretaste of that life, and by seeing it ahead we may hope for it. Hope may be called a bridge which the thought throws out, whereby it connects the present with the future realization of the end. By seeing eternal life ahead, and by striving and hoping for it, we are associated with those who are there, and thus partly live that life even here, for the spirit lives the same life and is of the same quality as its spiritual associates with whom it is connected through affections and thoughts. He who is in the hope of obtaining an end pictures that end before himself continually and thus in his spirit he continually lives that life for which his affections strive. A thing always exists as a state in the spirit before it becomes an actuality in the body, and trust and hope are the things that nourish aid feed the states of charity and affection in the spirit; they are the things that support man and hold him up; they are the means through which the Lord vivifies him in the way and leads him upwards. "Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord." When man suffers himself to be inspired and raised up by hope, he then puts himself in the stream of Providence, for hope is an incentive to man to follow the road that leads to the fulfillment of his hope, in other words, to live according to the Commandments. "Every man that hath this hope in Him purifieth himself, even as He is pure." The Word also teaches that the Lord's Mercy is peculiar towards those that hope in Him, which is evident from these words in the 33d Psalm: "Behold the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear Him, upon them that hope in His mercy."

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     It may thus be seen that hope is not a mere desire, for it is more than that. It is a desire accompanied with a belief in its fulfillment. And as hope causes man to look forward to eternal life, and thus directs and fixes his mind and thoughts on that life, it is called in the Epistle to the Hebrews "An anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast." As an anchor fixes the ship in the one spot, so hope rivets the attention to the one object--eternal life. It loves to meditate on it; it delights itself in the contemplation of it. He who looks to eternal life, willingly follows the leading of the Lord's Providence and willingly shuns evils as sins against Him, for he "puts on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation." It is evident, that unless a man looks to eternal life and hopes for it, he cannot attain it, and therefore it is said in Jeremiah, "The Lord is good unto them that wait for Him, to the soul that seeketh Him. It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord." He who hopes and quietly waits for the salvation of the Lord will not be internally disturbed by apparent difficulties, but will endure with patience whatever the Lord permits to befall him for his eternal good. Man must ever listen to the Lord's hope-inspiring voice, for otherwise he will refuse to be comforted, as did Jacob when he was told that an evil beast had devoured Joseph, "and he said, For I will go down into the grave unto my son mourning. Thus his father wept for him."

     A firm hope in the Lord gives a state of spiritual security. When fear is removed, hope is present. It is the Lord's continual endeavor to remove evil from man so that he may no longer fear it. He must fear God alone, and hope in His eternal mercy. He who thus hopes in the Lord will feel secure against enemies and will receive comfort, for "Thus saith the Lord, Refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears: for thy work shall be remembered, saith the Lord, and they shall come again from the land of the enemy. And there is hope in thine end, saith the Lord."

633




     As those only who are in the life of charity can trust in the Lord, so they only can have a genuine spiritual hope in Him. By virtue of being in love to the Lord and in charity towards the neighbors, they hope in the Lord's mercy. We are told in the writings of the Apostles that "Charity hopeth all things," and Divine revelation teaches that they who look to the Lord shall not want any good thing, but shall have all that they desire. Charity hopes all things, for by the shunning of evils it strives to obtain those spiritual blessings that the Lord freely bestows on those that love Him.

     In temptation-combats when evil spirits infest and cause the mind to feel weary and depressed, it is hope from the Lord that inspires courage so that man may endure unto the end. This state is pictured in the Word when it is said: "Why art thou cast down, O my soul? And why art thou disquieted within me? Hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise Him who is the health of my countenance and my God." Without the hope of victory no one could endure temptations. It is said in the Writings that hope and truth are the powers of combat from the interior whereby man resists. Therefore also in the other world they who undergo vastation in the lower earth are kept by the Lord in the hope of deliverance, and in the consideration of the end, viz., that thereby they may be amended, and be prepared to receive heavenly happiness.

     In temptations, hope is always inspired into man by the Lord, because evil spirits who are the cause of these fill him with doubts concerning the Lord's presence and mercy, and also concerning salvation. "Evil spirits, who cause temptations, strongly inspire a principle of denial, but good spirits and angels from the Lord endeavor by every method to disperse this principle of doubt, and continually to support the mind in hope, and at length to confirm it in the affirmative principle; hence the man who is in temptation remains for a time suspended between the negative and the affirmative; he who is overcome, remains in the principle of doubt and falls into the negative, whereas he who conquers is indeed in the principle of doubt, but still, if he suffers himself to be raised up by hope, he persists in the affirmative principle." (A. C. 2338)

     In all times they who believed in the Lord put their hope in Him. Before His coming men looked forward to that event, believing His promises and thus hoping that He would become their Redeemer.

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This hope in the Lord who was to come is what kept something of the Church alive with the Jewish people. But since His coming we must put our hope in Him Who has come and Who has redeemed us.
MILTON, ON HUMAN FREEDOM 1902

MILTON, ON HUMAN FREEDOM              1902

___"I made him just and right,
Sufficient to have stood, though free to fall.
Not free, what proof could they have given sincere
Of true allegiance, constant faith or love,
When only what they needs must do appeared,
Not what they would? What praise could they receive?
Useless and vain, of freedom both despoiled,
Made passive both, had served Necessity,
Not Me. ---
I formed them free, and free they must remain
Till they enthral themselves: I else must change
Their nature and revoke the high decree,
Unchangeable, eternal, which ordained
Their freedom; they themselves ordained their fall."
Paradise Lost. Book III., 1. 98-120.

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JUSTIFICATION AND GOOD WORKS 1902

JUSTIFICATION AND GOOD WORKS              1902

MINOR WORKS BY SWEDENBORG

     A SUMMARY OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC DOCTRINES, FROM THE COUNCIL OF TRENT.

     I.

     That the sin of Adam has been tranfused into the whole human race, whereby his state, and from this the state of all men, became perverted and alienated from God, and men have thus become enemies and children of wrath. That therefore God the Father graciously sent His Son that He might reconcile, expiate, atone, make satisfaction, and thus redeem, and this by being made righteousness. That Christ did this by offering Himself up a sacrifice to God the Father, upon the Cross, thus by His passion and blood.

     II.

     That the Lord Jesus Christ alone has merited. That this His merit is imputed, attributed and applied to man and transferred into him by God the Father through the Holy Spirit; and that thus the sin of Adam is removed from man--lust, however, still remaining as an incentive to sin. That this is effected, first by baptism, and afterwards by the sacrament of repentance.

     III.

     That justification is effected hope faith, hope and charity. That there is then a renovation of the interior man, whereby man from being an enemy becomes a friend, and from being a child of wrath becomes a child of God. That this is graciously effected by God the Father through the merit of His Son with the operation of the Holy Spirit. And that it is a union with Christ, inasmuch as the man becomes a living member of His body, and, as it were, a branch of the vine.

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     IV.

     That inasmuch as these things are effected by grace and are given freely, and thus are gifts, and as Christ Jesus alone has merited, therefore no one can attribute anything of merit to himself.

     V.

     That inasmuch as the reception of justification renovates man, and as this is effected by the translation of the merit of Christ into him, it follows that works are meritorious, and that the man who is justified and sanctified is not only reputed just and holy, but becomes just and holy.

     VI.

     That faith comes by hearing when a man believes those things to be true which are Divinely revealed. That it is the commencement of justification, but that it operates by charity, because faith without works is dead.

     VII.

     That free-will is not destroyed, and that man ought to co-operate; and that he has the power to approach and recede, otherwise nothing could be given to him, and he would be like an inanimate body.

     VIII.

     That man makes satisfaction by satisfactory penances imposed on him by the minister; and that this does not take away in the least from the satisfaction made by Christ, since we ought to suffer with Him.

     IX.

     Something about Predestination.

     [The above is the first part only of the little tract on "Justification and Good Works," but it, will suffice to give the reader a general idea of the contents of the work, the remaining portion consisting solely of extracts from the Decrees of the Council of Trent, adduced in confirmation of the above nine propositions. These extracts will, however, be included in the translation when the work is issued in the volume to be entitled "The Minor Works of Swedenborg."--TR.]

637


Editorial Department 1902

Editorial Department       Editor       1902

     "DOGMATISM IN THE NEW CHURCH."

     THIS subject is treated editorially by "J. R." in the October issue of The New Church Review. Having shown that "the New Church in a good sense is dogmatic," that is, holding doctrines which are "sharply defined" and unequivocal, the writer proceeds to deprecate sharply defined discussions about "inferences" drawn from these doctrines, and he illustrates this "offensively dogmatic" spirit by "two recent examples." As the first of these he brings up the insistence upon "distinctive New Church schools and colleges," and then continues: "Another saying which we often hear nowadays in certain quarters; is that 'the Writings are the Word.' This is not a statement made by Swedenborg himself, but one formulated by men as their deduction from his teachings. Moreover, it is believed by many, if not most New Churchmen, to be incorrect. How unauthorized therefore is the dogmatic assertion of it as a vital principle from which important conclusions are to be drawn! How much more fitting would it be to hold it in abeyance as something which should not be insisted upon, or made the basis of further thought and action!"

     We must confess our amazement at the hardihood of all this talk about dogmatism, and deductions, and inferences, when coming from the principal author of a Report which, in the most emphatic terms, declares that the Writings are not the Word of God. Surely, "this is not a statement made by Swedenborg himself," but is formulated by the writers of the Report as their deduction and inference,--an inference which is elevated into a dogma by the solemn act of acceptance by Council and Convention,--a dogma upon which the writers insist to such an extent as to exclaim: "Surely, the attitude of all sincere New-Churchmen should be the same."

     Here is a telling illustration of Christian toleration! Here is the spirit of "sweet reasonableness," of which J. R. sings the praises! Unless you are in agreement with the Report, you are not a "sincere" New Churchman. Such is the twentieth century form of ecclesiastical anathema which falls upon those who dare to believe that the Writings are the Word of the Lord in His Second Coming. And the reason why you must not hold this belief, is because "it is believed by many, if not by most New Churchmen, to be incorrect."

     But, pray, what has the unbelief of a majority to do with the question at issue? Are the opinions of men, to be the standard of truth in the Lord's Church? That was the false standard adopted by the Council of Nice and by every Council that has established dogmas by a majority of votes. But in the New Church we cannot possibly recognize such as any reliable standard of truth, for the Heavenly Doctrines themselves are "believed by many, if not most" of Christians, to be incorrect.

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"How unauthorized therefore," on such a basis, the whole Theology of the New Church!

     Any student of History knows that this invocation of human authority, this reference to the belief of prevailing majorities, has been the one weapon which the Roman Catholic Church has used in all ages to stifle free discussion of spiritual things. But it is a broken reed to lean upon, as weak as that other crutch, the cry of "dogmatism" and "inferences" and "deductions,"--a cry which is always raised as the last remaining defense of an untenable position.

     "J. R." would have the members of the New Church cease from drawing "inferences" from the Writings, and from insisting upon these inferences as being true. Not only does he, in his "Report," furnish an exceedingly poor illustration of the doctrine which he preaches, but he asks for what is utterly impossible. He asks men to stop thinking; he asks them to cease defending that which their understanding and conscience tell them to be true.

     He forgets that the whole process of human thought is nothing but a continuous chain of inferences and deductions. Conclusions are drawn from premises, and these conclusions in turn become the premises for new syllogisms. What is a truth but a rational inference or deduction from facts? "Two and two make four." This is nothing but an inference from the facts of two and two. But is it not true, and are we not to insist upon it in the face of any majority to the contrary notwithstanding?

     And thus, also, every truth of the Heavenly Doctrines is an inference, a rational deduction or conclusion drawn from the ultimate teachings in the Letter of the Word. Where, in that Letter, is it stated "in so many words" that the Lord Jesus Christ is the only Person in the Trinity? How do we know that this doctrine is true, except by placing all the teachings and passages of the Letter side by side, and thus by recognizing that the doctrine is a rational, correct and just inference from those passages? And when we have come to this recognition, we do not tamely "hold it in abeyance," but insist upon it as the most vital of all principles. We go so far in our "dogmatism" as to insist that without it no salvation is possible.

     Thus also with the literal statements in the Writings. Every careful student of them knows that these statements must be brought together and compared, in order that a wide and thorough understanding may be gained on any doctrinal subject. The conclusion reached is, of course, an inference, a deduction. But it is a truth nevertheless, as true as the statements and passages themselves, if in agreement with the teachings or premises on the subject.

     Most vital of all subjects in the New Church is the subject of the Writings themselves, whether they be the Word of God or the word of man, and whether or not they may be accepted as "the basis of further thought and action."

639


It is as vital to the New Church as the question of the Divine authority of the Gospel was to the men of the early Christian Church. Is there any statement in these Gospels, "in so many words," to the effect that these Gospels are the Word of God? We know not of any, but nevertheless the Christians "inferred" and knew that these books are the very Word of God.

     And so, also, will the men of the New Church come to know that the Revelation, the Divine Revelation, which has been given to them, is the very Word of the Lord in His Second Coming; and neither "J. R.," nor his "Report," nor the hue and cry of "dogmatism" will prevent the ultimate recognition of this most important and essential truth.

     SWEDENBORG'S "HUMILITY."

     THE full text of the "Report on the Word and Swedenborg's Writings" having been published in The New Church Review for October, we notice that the Report is in substantial agreement with the editor of The New Christianity, who believes that it was simply personal humility and modesty that caused Swedenborg to claim that the Writings are a Divine Revelation. He reasons thus: Since all truth is essentially from the Lord alone, therefore all our thoughts and writings, in so far as they are true, are Divine Revelation, just as much as the Word and the Writings. Swedenborg recognizing this, from the exceeding humility of his heart refused to claim anything as his own, just as all of us ought to do, and hence he was led to claim Divine Inspiration.

     And thus also the Report states that Swedenborg claimed to be a revelator, "not, indeed, for the sake of setting himself above others, but m the very spirit of humility which forbids him to claim that the wondrous truth disclosed is the product of his own mind." "Least of all authors does Swedenborg, who gives this lofty conception of the Word, claim that the products of his pen are to be placed on a level with it" [the Word].

     If there be any doubt remaining as to the real meaning of the Report, when it states that the Writings are "a Divine Revelation," this additional explanation ought to settle it. Swedenborg is "the author" of this Divine Revelation, an author among other authors. It is Swedenborg, and not the Lord Alone, who "gives this lofty conception." It is Swedenborg, the man, who, out of pure humility, claims that the Writings are "the Lord's own works." when in reality they are only "the products" of his own pen.

     Surely, Swedenborg's "humility" drove him into most dangerous and misleading statements, when we consider the mass of "Testimonies of the Writings concerning themselves." which was published in the October issue of the Life. Are we ever to take him seriously at his word, or are all of these claims and testimonies to be considered as merely the expressions of exaggerated humility, unreliable hyperbolas, and amiable impositions?

640




     If, according to the Report, "the thoughts are the Lord's, but the language is Swedenborg's," and if this language is everywhere as exaggerated and unreliable as the Report would have us believe, then the whole Theology of the New Church is, indeed, open to most serious doubt. And if we are to read into it everywhere Swedenborg's own personality and individual sentiments of humility and other feelings, then it is no longer the Divine Revelation of the Lord's own Truth, but the human revelation of Swedenborg's own affections and states of mind,--a thing of the utmost insignificance to mankind as a whole.

     It is evident that the Report is saturated with Unitarianism from beginning to end,--a kind of Neo-Christian Unitarianism which treats the Lord in His Second Coming in exactly the same manner that the Arians have treated the Lord in His First Coming. The "humility" argument is the very citadel of the Unitarians who read the humility of Christ as a mere man into every claim to Divinity that He makes. When He claims to be the Son of God, the Unitarians unhesitatingly admit it,--but only in the sense that all men are the children of God. When He claims that He and the Father are one, the Unitarians answer that every good man is one with the Father, and that it was only Christ's "humility" which for--bade Him to claim anything as His own.

     THE OLD THEOLOGY STILL BELIEVED.

     IN this issue of the Life we print a portion of the first part of the sketch prepared by Swedenborg as an outline of the Brief Exposition. This first part consists, like the first part of the published work, of extracts from the doctrines of the Old Church respecting Justification and the Remission of Sins, the extracts being preceded, in the sketch, by the author's brief summary of those doctrines. In view, however, of the fact that the extracts in the sketch are, for the most part, the same as those given in the published work, it seems inadvisable to take up the pages of the Life with their publication. The editors have therefore decided to reserve them until the time comes for the publication of the first volume of "The Minor Works of Swedenborg." when they will be inserted in their proper place. In the meantime, we present to our readers the introductory summary drawn up by Swedenborg, and for the confirmation of which the subsequent extracts were made.

     It has been claimed by many New Churchmen that the doctrines of the Old Church, adduced by Swedenborg, in the Brief Exposition and elsewhere, are no longer held by the men of the Old Church,--that they have been rejected as against "common sense." The claim thus made is based on the assertion that in modern sermons less reference is made to doctrine and more stress is laid on moral life than was the case in former times.

641




     In a sense, the assertion is justified, though not to any considerable extent in the sense intended by its authors, namely, that the doctrines of the Old Church are omitted or denied. Take any theological paper, any sermon, even the most popular, and while you may find much said about a "good life," you will also find the old falsities of the Trinity, of Justification, etc., showing forth, and in the majority of cases they are set forth in the boldest fashion.

     But even were they not mentioned at all, even were nothing but a "good moral life" preached, to infer that, therefore, the old falses were rejected evidences the most superficial thought. For what is the moral life of the Christian Church but the embodiment and exposition of the doctrines taught by the Church and held by its members? If those doctrines are spiritual and true, then the moral life is a spiritual moral life; but if they are false it is nothing but a moral life concealing spiritual evils. On the plane of a "good life" the spiritual man and the natural man may appear alike. But to argue from this that they are alike would be as irrational as to argue that the moral teachings of an atheist are the same as those of angel. The difference is to be sought within the appearance; it is to be sought not in words, but in the ideas which enter into words,--the doctrines regarding spiritual things, especially regarding the Lord. However much the Old Church may be teaching the moral life, it has not in the least receded from its false dogmas concerning spiritual faith and spiritual life. These are still taught in its seminaries and confirmed by its public assemblies, and they enter into and form its every idea and its every word spoken about morals.

     In the recent Presbyterian Assembly of the United States, representing one of the largest Church memberships in the country--which was held in New York--the old falses were reaffirmed in so bald a manner that the reaffirmation may be quoted as an appropriate sequel to the extracts made by Swedenborg nearly two centuries ago. We quote from the "Brief Statement of the Reformed Faith" which was adopted by the Assembly for presentation to the different Presbyteries, "with the view to its being employed to give information and a better understanding of our doctrinal beliefs" and not as a substitute for the Westminster Confession, which is still the supreme doctrine of the Church.

     Article l. Of God.

     "...We worship Him (the ever living God) Father, Son and Holy Spirit, three persons in one God-head, one in substance and equal in power and glory."

     Article V. Of the Sin of Man.

     "We believe that our first parents, being tempted, chose evil and so fell away from God and came under the power of sin, the penalty of which is eternal death; and we confess that, by reason of this disobedience, we and all men are born with a sinful nature; that we have broken God's law and that no man can be saved but by His Grace."

642




     Article VIII. Of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

     "We believe in and confess the Lord Jesus Christ, the only Mediator between God and man, who, being the eternal Son of God, for us men and for our salvation, became truly man, being conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary, without sin:...for us He revealed all righteousness and satisfied eternal justice, offering Himself a perfect sacrifice upon the Cross to take away the Sin of the world; for us He rose from the dead and ascended into heaven, where He ever intercedes for us....

     Article IX. Of Faith and Repentance.

     "We believe that God pardons our sins and accepts us as righteous, solely on the ground of the perfect obedience and sacrifice of Christ, received by faith alone, and that this saving faith is always accompanied by repentance.

     The twelfth article affirms "the general resurrection in the last day, when the bodies of those who sleep in Christ shall be fashioned in the likeness of the glorious body of their Saviour."

     It is true that, now and then, we hear of churchmen denying one or other of the doctrines of the Old Church, but they deny them merely as being natural falses, or contrary to the light of science, never as being spiritual falses or contrary to the Word of God. Considered spiritually, those who deny and those who affirm are in agreement with each other in that both turn their backs to the Word and interiorly deny God. This agreement is clearly seen in the other world when Christians put off their externals. But in this world, most Christians, from an historical and persuasive faith, accept certain false dogmas with which they conceal their denial, while others. from natural lumen, reject some or all of those dogmas, with the result that, with them, the internal denial becomes more or less apparent even in this world. Thus we are taught that Arianism reigns in the Old Church; but this was not so externally apparent two centuries ago as it is at this day. Spiritually, the faith has not changed; naturally, the change has been to make the spiritual more apparent in its ugly nakedness. And this natural change will undoubtedly go on as men continue to reject the light of revelation and to worship the Gods of Naturalism and Science. Therefore, we cannot in any way assume that an external rejection of the falses of the Old Church is a preparation for the entrance of the truths of the New. The Writings teach that the falses of the Old Church must first be "opened and rejected" before the truths of the New Church can enter (B. E. 95) and by their being "opened" is meant their being seen as spiritual falses. This can never be done in the light of natural reason or of science. From that light many men have, indeed, rejected the doctrine of the Tripersonality, of the atonement and so forth, but the internal falsity of those doctrines, far from being "opened and rejected" with such men, has rather become confirmed, though appearing in the new garb of open Atheism, or of the worship of an invisible Being and the apotheosizing of natural goodness; and certainly such men have no greater disposition to receive the truths of the New Church, but rather the reverse.

643


Therefore, the Lord has revealed the falses of the Old Church that they may be seen in spiritual light; and this is the reason why the Writings say so much as to those falses. They must be seen as falses in the light of heaven before they can be interiorly opened and rejected and spiritual truths received in their place. To assume that men can of themselves, or in the light of the world, see and reject the dogmas of the Old Church, is to assume that the Lord in revealing the falsity of those dogmas performed a work of supererogation, or that, at best, He did for men now what men might have done for themselves in time.
DECREASED BIRTH RATE IN THE UNITED STATES 1902

DECREASED BIRTH RATE IN THE UNITED STATES              1902

     "That the birth rate among native-born American women has fallen to an even lower ebb than that among French women seems to be borne out by statistics. Previous to 1830, up to which time there was no considerable number of immigrants, the average birth rate recording to records of the decennial censuses during 40 years, was 3465 per cent. This rate, notwithstanding the influx of fecund foreigners, was reduced to 20.87 per cent. in 1900.

     In Europe the number of births per thousand, excluding still births, are: In Russia, 48.5; Austria, 37.2; Prussia, 36.9; Italy, 36.3; England, 30.3 ; France, 22.4.

     In 1894 there were in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Michigan, Rhode Island and New Jersey, 22.1 births to each thousand. The native-born per thousand in Massachusetts from I893 to 1897 were 17; foreign born, 52.2. Michigan, native-born. 13.1; foreign, 50.

     According to the above paragraph it appears that the French women are more prolific than their sisters in favored parts of the United States.

     The immense difference between the fecundity of native-born American women and foreign born is shown by the birth record of Massachusetts in 1900. The native-born population of that State for that year was 1,959,022, the number of births being 23,000. The foreign born population was 846.--324, to which were born 36,062 children; that is, thirty per cent. of the entire population produced nearly fifty per cent. of the total number of children born during that year.

     The number of children to each marriage in Russia, 5.5; Austria, 4.1; Prussia. 4.2; Italy, 4.4; England. 3.9; France, 2.1, Missouri, 1885 to 1895, native. 2.1; foreign, 3.81 Michigan, 1890 to '94, native, 2.1. foreign, 4.1; Massachusetts, 1885, native, 2.7; foreign, 4.5.

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     The birth rate among college women is the lowest of any groups, only 1.3 children to each married graduate.

     That these figures are appalling to every student, and especially to the physician, is self-evident.

     What are the causes? Every physician is more or less familiar with many or all of them. It is not because native-born women are growing weaker or less able to bear children. The reverse is true. The simple fact is that the average American wife does not want children.

     Why?

     Because they are in her way, interfere with her social plans, especially if she is rich or well-to-do.

     Woman's desire to be "independent" leads her into all trades and professions, thereby preventing many marriages. If one of these business or professional women consummates a marriage, the bearing of children would take her away from her "business" or profession, so conception is prevented; if occurring, abortion is too often resorted to.

     Our educational system is wrong. All the efforts of the system in vogue is to leach girls accomplishments, not to instruct them in practical matters, nor the beauty of maternity, nor how to keep a house in order.

     Another item that militates against the rearing of a family by a struggling young couple is the expense of a confinement, which, in its entirety, hardly ever falls below $100.

     The physician is doing his part in curing the sick, making it possible for many who would otherwise he unable to bear children to do so. But there is a great work of education that must be done with the young girls, some of which can be done by the family physician, but most of it must fall on the minister. the teacher and the mother. Different ideas must be instilled into the minds of the youth--other objects besides the ability to shine in society must be held up as the ne plus ultra of a girl's existence."--(Hahnemannian Advocate, August, 1902.)

645


Monthly Review 1902

Monthly Review              1902

NEW PUBLICATIONS.

     Catechismo da Nova Jerusalem ou Nova Egreja Christa, por L. C. de La Fayette. Rio de Janeiro, 1902. Paper, 42 pp.

     This little "Catechism of the New Jerusalem or the New Christian Church" is the first New Church work that has ever appeared in the Portuguese language, and opens up a new and wide field for the propaganda of the Heavenly Doctrines. The Portuguese tongue is so similar to Latin and French that a student of these languages has but little difficulty in gaining an idea of this catechism, which is a general exposition of the theology of the New Church, for philosophical rather than juvenile readers. The Doctrines are presented in brief, striking sentences, but no mention is made of Swedenborg and his Writings, an omission which does not seem intentional, as Senor de La Fayette speaks openly about the source of his light in his monthly journal, A Nova Jerusalem.

     From a letter we received some time ago from our Brazilian friend, it appears that he has translated the following works of Swedenborg into Portuguese: "The Word," (a resume of the contents of the Arcana Coelestia); Nine Questions and the New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine. He has also translated four of the most popular works of Mr. Giles, and has, himself, written a number of treatises,--all, eighteen works which are ready for publication, but cannot as yet be issued, owing to a lack of financial means.

     Senor de La Fayette is not a Frenchman, as might be supposed from his name, but a native Portuguese of an ancient family. Though born and bred a Roman Catholic, he became a doubter at an early age, was drawn into Mesmerism, Theosophy, etc., and had many visions, but some ten years ago renounced the various forms of Spiritualism, and speaks of them as "the ancient magic now modernized," and "the foolish and diabolical arguments of the ancient and new dragon."
NEW CHURCH JOURNALS 1902

NEW CHURCH JOURNALS              1902

     New Church Magazine. July. Under the title. "The effect of human depravity on the literal sense of the Word," Rev. W. A. Presland gives a clear presentation of the teaching that Divine Revelation does not depend for its quality on the form in which it appears. Mr. Presland presents this truth as conveyed in the account of the delivery to Moses of the Ten Commandments. Those Commandments were originally written on tables made by God, but these tables were broken by Moses at sight of the idolatry of the Israelites; yet God wrote the same Commandments on other tables prepared by Moses.

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The tables represent the Letter of the Word and the writing thereon the Divine Truth within. As Mr. Presland points out, this account shows that the revelation to the Jews would have taken entirely different external form, had they themselves been of a different nature; but it would have been no more nor any less a Divine Revelation. But with this partial presentation of a universal truth. Mr. Presland rests satisfied. Indeed, few New Churchmen are prepared to follow it out to all its logical conclusions. Thus while the majority admit that the Divine truth revealed in a form accommodated to the sensual Sews is the same as that which was revealed in a nobler form to the Lord's disciples,--that despite the differences in form, both Revelations are the very Word of God,--yet few are willing to see that it is this same One and Infinite Truth which is now revealed in a form adapted to the disciples of the Lord in His Second Coming. On the other hand, because the form in which He now reveals Himself is not the form adapted to the sensual Jews or to the early Christians, most New Churchmen deem it almost sacrilegious to call this last Revelation the Word of God. And yet that it is in truth the Word of God, is inseparably contained in the teaching brought out by Mr. Presland, that the Form of Revelation is Divinely adapted to the Church to which it is given, and that this form does not in the least detract from the Divinity of the Revelation. The truth is a universal one and cannot be limited in its application.

     August. The Rev G. L. Allbutt contributes a review of "The American Revisers' version of the Old Testament. In this review, the author unhesitatingly condemns what is a prominent feature of the Version, the substitution of the "psychological" sense of a word in place of its literal meaning. Thus for "the yearning of thy bowels" (Is. 63: 15) is substituted "the yearning of thy heart; and for "Try my heart and my reins." "Try my heart and my mind." Such translations destroy the foundations which the Word rests by eliminating the correspondential things of which that foundation consists: and coming, as it does, as the authorized Version of some of America's most conservative clergymen. they are a significant sign of the growing rejection of the doctrine of the Divine and literal inspiration of the Scriptures.

     Morning Light. "L. G.," writing on "The use of theological terms," pleads for the use, when presenting our doctrines to the world, of theological terms familiar to the Old Church; his object being to "modify the meanings attached to those terms" since people simply will not adopt the terms of the New Church. In support of this appeal "L. G." refers to Swedenborg's teaching that the Athanasian Creed may be understood in such a way as to convey the truth. He then continues. "As if addressing those holding the Creed, instead of saying 'This is an entirely false view of the Godhead.' Swedenborg goes along with them, by saying in effect, 'Yes, there is a Trinity in God, and if you like to so term it, a Trinity of Persons, if by the word person we understand not the modern meaning of fence like this coming from the pen of such an exact writer as Swedenborg.

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Probably one of the most remarkable features in the style of the Writings is the newness of the terminology to the complete ignoring of the theological terms of the Old Church. New wine cannot be put into old bottles.

     The letter of "A. B." on the "Growth of the Church," which was noticed in the October number of the Life, p. 591, has been the cause of an animated correspondence in which various writers to Morning Light give many and divergent views on the subject. One of these writers ascribes the lack of growth of the Church so lamented by "A. B." to the fact that there are but few "who truly desire to know their Lord," and he suggests that the true lines of growth are among the "simple folk." Yet in the latter part of his letter he shows the influence of the permeation theory, for he finds comfort in the thought that a large part of the work of the Church has lain in "ameliorating the asperities of the Old Church and in the toning down of their doctrines," the evidence of which is that they "are adopting our ideas in a sneaking manner, and palming them off as their own," these ideas being, of course, a "leaven" in the Christian world.

     Another correspondent,--a minister,--ascribes the present state of Conference to the prevalence in the world of the love of pleasures.

     The most curious reason assigned is that given by another correspondent to the effect that New Churchmen have inherited "an intense love of freedom, making it difficult for them to accept the authority of any Church, though not preventing them from accepting the doctrines in an abstract sense." Are we to conclude from this that the love of freedom must be less "intense" before the Church can grow?

     A minister of the Old Church also ventures to give suggestions. According to him the decrease in the numbers of the Church is due to the lack of missionary spirit,--to think that Conference should ever be accused of such a thing,--and the use of Liturgies. He has the most innocently abiding trust in the success of his panacea: "Give me an earnest preacher, 4 or 5 equally earnest workers, with a good open service free from all ritual, and I undertake buildings will be filled to overflowing." It would be more satisfying if we could be assured that it would be New Churchmen who would "overflow" the buildings.

     The letter by "Layman" is terse, even enigmatic. After simply asserting that the New Church is growing, since the Word and the Writings teach that its "numbers will gradually increase," he concludes, "If Conference statistics do not show this increase, may we not, rather than doubt what is revealed, suspect that they do not refer to quite the same thing." Is this sarcasm?

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DOCTOR'S DEGREE 1902

DOCTOR'S DEGREE       FRANK SEWALL       1902

EDITORS New Church Life:
     A recent number of New Church Life contained a complimentary mention of the conferring of the degree of D. D. by Bowdoin College, at its centennial Commencement, on the undersigned. The editor, however, "wonders if Mr. Sewall will accept the honor," since "it seems self-evident that a person cannot consistently be a 'Doctor,' i. e., a teacher of Old Church and at the same time New Church Divinity.

     While I do not conceive it to be a matter of the least concern to the Church at large whether, personally, I accept or decline the honor conferred by my Alma Mater, inasmuch as the editor has raised what may be regarded as a question of principle or of consistency of conduct in the matter, I feel that I ought to set his mind at rest as far as may be by saying that in no academic usage that I am aware of does the recognition of a man's ability as a teacher carry with it a limitation of the teaching to some conventional or established standard, doctrinal or scientific. Were the latter the case, no man who has introduced a new idea or principle could be recognized, because he would not be conforming to the old. Happily, universities and the higher schools of learning have always preserved their freedom to recognize truth and to encourage the search for it. It was for this reason that Swedenborg sent his writings to the universities, and there they have first been found, and thence disseminated both in England and America.

     As for myself, it is hard for me to conceive of the idea that my College gave me the Doctor's degree because of my teaching "Old Church" theology, unless, indeed, as I hope may he the case, it has come to see that all true theology is true for all time, and belongs alike to all schools of sincere learning. My first honor from Bowdoin College was the prize conferred on my graduation essay on the subject of "The Internal Memory," which I treated wholly from the basis of teaching in Swedenborg's doctrine on the subject. My present degree was conferred, I have supposed, solely on the merits of my literary work in the books of mine in the College library, embracing my translation of Swedenborg's De Anima, my work on The New Metaphysics or "the Law of End, Cause, and Effect," my work on Dante and Swedenborg, my Hymnal, and other Liturgical
works for the New Church, and others of a purely literary character.

     If my College sees fit to honor me with its recognition of these works as a useful contribution to learning, I fail to see on what principle of conduct as a New Churchman I should feel inclined to reject such recognition or be warranted in doing so. Respectfully yours, FRANK SEWALL.

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FROM THE NEW CHURCH TEMPERANCE SOCIETY 1902

FROM THE NEW CHURCH TEMPERANCE SOCIETY       N. C. T. S       1902

EDITORS New Church Life:
     In your issue for July last comments were made upon the report recently issued by this Society (the N. C. T. S.), to which my executive asks me to reply.

     In our report we certainly rejoiced, and, we think, with good cause, that the leaven of falsity is increasingly being excluded from the table of the Lord in Great Britain, in the greater frequency in the use of Unfermented Wine. Knowing as we do that fermented wine is intoxicating, i. e., poisonous, and that it is the greatest cause of crime, disease and poverty we have in the land,--it is not strange we prefer that wine which represents good and is not associated with what is false and evil. We are convinced that unfermented wine, i. e., "the fruit of the vine," is the truest representative of the Lord's Blood, consequently we are earnest in teaching men so and are delighted that our labor is not in vain in the Lord. This work of the temperance cause is one of the beneficent signs of the Second Advent and tends to help in the glorious work of making all things new. We are very glad the "Old Church" is so lovingly taking up this service in the cause of our Lord and our neighbor. The foregoing will also reply to your somewhat caustic and uncharitable remark as to "co-operation with the Old Church in the advocacy of an external reform which closes men's eyes to their spiritual state (!) and reaches forth its hand to defile the most holy sacrament of the Church." We hold we are opening men's eyes to behold their duty in correcting the evils of the external man and we are cleansing the previously defiled table of the Lord by removing that which Swedenborg teaches is "representative of falsity and should not be mixed with the good." In conclusion, allow me to express regret that any professed New Churchman should show so much of the evil spirit of the Old Church as to sneer at his fellow-members as being only "so-called New Churchmen." Both you and ourselves are stretching forward to the light and we must lovingly help and cheer one another in the way, giving each other credit for acting with the best motives for the common good. I have pleasure in subscribing myself, your fellow-worker in the New Church. THOS. J. BARLOW, Secretary N. C. T. S.

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Church News 1902

Church News       Various       1902

FROM OUR CORRESPONDENTS.

     Bryn Athyn, Pa. On Saturday evening, September 27th, the Boys' Dormitory had its "house warming," to which a general invitation had been extended. The Bishop conducted a brief dedication ceremony, after which all were invited to inspect the apartments occupied by the boys. Needless to say, they wore an unwonted tidiness, and a presentability for which college youths' quarters are not exactly notorious. Of this, however, the casual visitor may be none the wiser by reason of the fact that boys have a way of "getting wind of" probable inspections: not that each boy does not keep his own room in a condition of neatness itself, but that his neighbor has a penchant for disturbing his native tranquility. The guests were pleased with the luxury and homelike comfort of the establishment, and felt that the "inmates" were fortunate indeed in having the fatherly and motherly care of Mr. and Mrs. Synnestvedt. After the tour d' inspection refreshments were served below and a few toasts honored:--to the New Church, the Academy, the Rising Generation (not necessarily early rising), the New Dormitory, the Host and Hostess, etc. The boys then sped the parting guests with a medley composed for the occasion, and soon "Gone were all who with merriment and lest had come to the hanging of the crane in the new house."

     On the following Monday evening we were entertained at the Club House with a very interesting account by Mr. Pitcairn of his recent visit to Sweden, where he met Mr. Alfred Stroh, and inspected the work being done in Stockholm under his supervision on the transcribing of the manuscripts. He also visited the Library of the Royal Academy of Sciences and other places of interest, and had interviews with Messrs. Manby, Boyesen and Bjorck, with whom doctrinal and other tonics were discussed. A visit was also paid to Rev. Mr. Rosenqvist and family in Gottenburg.

     At the conclusion of his account. Mr. Pitcairn read No. 5711, of the Spiritual Diary, which describes the devastated state of the inhabitants of certain parts of the city of Stockholm in the world of spirits at the time of the Last Judgment, and especially of those dwelling in "Stora Nvgatan" and "Lilla Nygatan," on which streets the visitor consequently gazed with special interest.

     Among the visitors of the past month were Mrs. Jackman, of Oakmont (near Pittsburg), and Mr. Jacob Schoenberger, of Pittsburg, and his brother. Mr. John Schoenberger, of Alleaheny. On Sunday, October 12th. We Were very agreeably surprised by a visit from Mr. and Mrs. Geo. Heath, of New York. An informal reception was held for them at Glenhurst in the evening, when Mr. Heath was baptized into the New Church by Bishop Pendleton. After the ceremony a few toasts were drunk and speeches made. Mr. Synnestvedt spoke of the real uses of Baptism as an introduction into the life of regeneration, which life makes the Church. Bishop Pendleton dwelt upon the difference between the formula of Baptism used in the Old Church and that used in the New. Rev. G. S. Starkey and Mr. Caldwell also spoke, the latter in response to a toast to the "Growth of Bryn Athyn," called forth by the very pleasant prospect of having Mr. and Mrs. Heath as residents, as we hope, in the not far distant future.

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     The Friday evening suppers have been resumed under the management of the ladies, who have been divided into seven committees, each taking its turn in the work which involves no little labor, as about 12.5 persons sit down each Friday to the long and bountifully provided tables in the Gymnasium Hall.

     Mr. Synnestvedt, on Monday and Wednesday afternoons, delivers lectures on the history and principles of Pedagogy to the Normal Class of the Seminary and to the ladies of the Society. Great interest is manifested in these lectures.

     In the news notes of last month, the writer forgot to mention that Miss Alice Grant and Miss Lucy Potts spent the vacation at the Summer School of Chicago University, studying the subject of Education. The little ones are now reaping the benefits of these studies.

     Baltimore, Md. Until July the congregation held services on the first Sunday of each month under the ministrations of Rev. Homer Synnestvedt and Mr. Alfred Stroh. On Sunday, June 8th, we tendered a farewell reception to Mr. Stroh in honor of his proposed visit to Sweden, the meeting, which took place at the home of Mr. Peter Knapp, proving a veritable love feast. Toasts were proposed to the Church, to the guest of the occasion and to the success of his labors abroad, etc.

     Our Society also celebrated the 10th of June at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Knapp, this being their wedding anniversary.

     The congregation looked forward with pleasure to the coming of Mr. W. B. Caldwell, who was expected to preach here on July 6th, but as he was delayed, and the hall had been engraved, it was deemed wise to hold services on that date. Mr. Knapp read a sermon on the subject of Marriage, by the Rev. Richard De Charms, which appeared in Vol. II., No. I. of New Church Life. The text was "Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter shalt thou not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son." Deut. vii, 3.

     On Friday, July 11th, Mr. Caldwell presided at the Circle Meeting, and on the following Sunday visited the friends and members of the congregation. On Sunday, July 20th, we had an outing in Clifton Park, for which occasion a program had been mapped out; owing to a severe storm, this was abandoned in part, but nevertheless two toasts were honored, one to the Church, and the ether to the Spirit of Fighting and Conquering over evils within and without ourselves. The balance of the program was postponed until the following Friday evening, when the doctrinal class met at the house of Mr. R. L. Behlert, after which we enjoyed a pleasant social time, and honored the following toasts: "The Unity of the Church," "The Growth of the Church." "Consociation as a Means to the Growth and Unity of the Church." "Mutual Trust and Confidence as a Means to the Growth and Unity of the Church." and "The Ladies and the Rabies." Responses were made by Messrs, Knapp, Behlert, Hammer and Reynolds.

     On Sunday, July 27th, services were held at the home of Mr. Henry Grebe, and after that every Sunday regularly in the Hall until September 14th, when Mr. Caldwell took leave of us. The average attendance at services during the summer was 14, and at doctrinal classes 7. K.

     Atlanta, Ga. July 20th will become a significant date in the history of the Church in Atlanta, for that day, in the present year, witnessed the first successful effort ever made in this city for the support of a pastor. A meeting for organization was held by local friends of the General Church, which was noteworthy for its affirmative attitude of mind and perfect unanimity of action.

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In addition to the local friends, the meeting was attended by Mr. C. R. Pendleton, of Macon, Ga., who, with his brother, Mr. A. S. Pendleton, of Valdosta, Ga., had come to Atlanta specially for the purpose. Mr. C. R. Pendleton was elected chairman. In his opening remarks, the chairman, speaking also for his brother, who, unfortunately had been compelled by urgent business reasons to return to his home a few hours after his arrival in Atlanta, expressed his hearty support of the movement and his active interest in its promotion and success. It was then unanimously determined to inaugurate weekly Sunday services. Since that time I have been engaged in preaching and conducting service every Sunday. For the present, our meetings shall continue to be held in the evening, at 407 Capitol avenue; but, in due time, we expect to hold them in some central location up-town.

     One of the latest items of news is the discovery of Mr. Edwin A. Vickroy, formerly of Johnstown, Pa, and brother of Miss Laura Vickroy, of Bryn Athyn. The Vickroys are unusually fortunate in counting three generations of ancestors before them, who were all in the New Church. Mr. Vickroy is certainly a welcome addition to our little company. RICHARD H. KEEP.

     Middleport, O. The season is beginning bravely with social life in the Middleport Church. The ladies arranged to provide suppers once a month at a small sum for each member, the proceeds to go to the fund for papering the Church. Two suppers have already been given. Once a month, also, on the alternate fortnightly Friday there is a card party. The two of these which have taken place have been well-attended and much enjoyed.

     The Sunday Doctrinal Classes began early in September. Mr. Klein is giving an interesting history of the Most Ancient Church. The Sunday School had a picnic late in August, which was attended by all the pupils, including five from the country and several of their grown-up folks. The children were enthusiastic and asked to have another the following week.

     Among the visitors who have dropped in on us, lately, were Miss Clara Boericke, of Philadelphia; Mr. Arthur Cranch, of Erie, and Dr. Ben Boggess, of Pittsburg. Mr. Roy Davis is home at last from the Philippines, and great is the rejoicing thereat. He had been away from home four years, although his stay in and around Manila was only for three. Several of the young folks have left us for a few months. Miss Pauline Downing is in Chicago; Mr. Lewis Allen is learning to pilot on the Ohio river and has gone to Pittsburg on the "Tom Dodsworth;" Miss Esther Boggess has gone to Bryn Athyn to school, and Mr. Will Hanlin to Philadelphia to continue his medical course.

     In addition to the Doctrinal Class, Mr. Klein has started a class for the young folks of about fourteen years of age, which meets at his home one evening every week. Besides this there is a small class of men every Monday night to consider matters relative to Swedenborg's science. T. K.

     Berlin, Ont. On Monday evening, September 22d, a Memorial Service was held, commemorating the departure of Mrs. M. M. Cowley to the other life. Mrs. Cowley was well-known to the members of the Carmel Church, having spent the last three years of her life among us, in the home of her son and daughter, the Rev. and Mrs. E. J. Stebbing. During all the time she was here, and also for some years before she came among us, she was an invalid, and unable to leave her chair. Nevertheless she took a keen interest in all things of the Church, and much enjoyed the rare occasions when she was brought to some special even in our Church life. She left us last June to go to her old home in Pittsburg, where she passed away on the 19th of September.

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     After a short service, addresses were made by the pastor and a number of the members, who spoke of the many lovable qualities of the departed,--of the patience with which she bore her afflictions; of her cheerfulness and trust in the Divine Providence; of her earnest interest in the doctrines and life of the Church; and, above all, of her desire that the time might soon come when she would be called to the other life, there again to meet him on whom her thoughts constantly dwelt, the husband who had preceded her to that life.

     The pastor, in his address, said: That Mrs. Cowley's life with her husband was one of love truly conjugial and that she has gone to live with him to eternity, seems assured to us by the teaching, that "they who are in love truly conjugial, in marriage look to what is eternal." The thought of the eternity of her life with her husband was ever her chief thought. And we can believe that she was not alone in this thought, but that her husband as to his spirit was present with her and shared the thought with her. In this connection, let us recall the teaching in Conjugial Love, that "there is a spiritual dwelling together with married partners who love each other tenderly, however distant they may be from each other in body." Such dwelling together exists with them also when one has been removed from this world and the other remains here. But how sweet and blissful must be that moment when they again meet face to face in their eternal home! This happiness is now her's, who has passed to that home, and let us rejoice with her in it.--Today I came upon the account of the memorial meeting held by the members of the Academy in Philadelphia. in memory of Dr. Cowley, on the 1st of November, 1886. As I read the remarks made on that occasion by Bishop Benade. In regard to Dr. Cowley's character, I was strongly impressed with the thought that the Bishop's words, but slightly altered, would describe Mrs. Cowley's character far better than could any words of my own. Applying his words to Mrs. Cowley, we can say: "She was, with her husband, a member of the Academy almost from its beginning; and to the end of her life was true and loyal to its principles. Now the Lord has removed her from our midst to the world of higher uses. Those who have known her well, have known a wonderful humility in her, and the trials she has had to pass through have only served to make her a more spiritual woman. Besides humility, her traits were patience, truthfulness,--a steady pursuit of what she believed to be right. She had much of what the world calls good-nature, was a pleasant, genial companion, always a true friend and sister. She proved her good qualities in her capacity as wife and mother; hers was a beautiful family life, a New Church home: her children have been faithfully taught and reared in the Church."

     After the close of the formal meeting, there were several toasts appropriate to the occasion and further remarks. F. E. W.

     THE MISSIONARY FIELD.

     On September 9th the writer crossed over the river from Ontario into Michigan, at Detroit. In the evening of that day, at the home of Mr. and Mrs. John Strongman, he met the Rev. and Mrs. John Whitehead. From September 10th till the 11lth, the time was passed in calling on and conversing with the few New Church people in the city of Gorand Rapids. One of the two members of the General Church here was away from home at the time. In Allegan county, in the country, the United Brethren minister was away. so they invited me to preach to the congregation on Sunday morning. September 14th. The Faith of the Church was recited, as usual, on such occasions. The people were informed that the sermon, on Matthew xiv: 1, 2, would be according to the doctrines of the Church of the New Jerusalem.

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The doctrine of the Lord was stated, and confirmed by passages from the letter of the Word. At the close of the service, several of the people spoke in a friendly manner, and invited me to come again. Sunday, September 21st, was spent In Kalamazoo. There are only three men we know of who are interested in the doctrines of the Church in that city. These are Judge W. W. Peck, and Messrs. B. C. Henyan and Thaddeus H. Rowe. We had much conversation, and on the Sunday named above a sermon was read. All of these three gentlemen are appreciative readers of New Church Life. They have endeavored to find others to take a living interest in the truths that are so precious to them, but so far have not succeeded. The last place visited in Michigan was Gobleville, Van Buren county. In that village, on September 23d, an elderly lady and a young man were introduced into the New Church by baptism. The former has been a reader for some years, but the latter is a new receiver of the doctrines.

     On my arrival at Rockford, on the evening of September 25th, the friends there made me welcome in a very hearty manner. The date of my arrival was the same as at my last visit to Rockford, in September, 1901. Busily employed during all the wakeful hours, the week of my stay passed by very swiftly. On the evening of the 26th we were to have a public meeting in a hall, but no one came but the New Church people. But we made good use of the occasion, so much so that when the time came for us to close all were loath to "break meeting" and go home. Sunday morning, 28th, at the house of Mr. John Gustafson, we held a meeting at which a sermon was delivered, and the sacrament of the Lord's Supper was administered. There were ten communicants. In the after noon, at Shandia Hall, there was an audience of thirty-five or forty. All except two were Swedes, or young people of Swedish parents. The lecture of forty-five minutes, on a "Emanuel Swedenborg; who he was and what he taught," was followed with good attention from beginning to end. Seventeen books were afterwards sold. One of these was a pamphlet on The Pythonism of the Present Day, which was bought by a young man, a Swede, who has been investigating the (to some minds) fascinating phenomena of modern spiritism. He asked whether Swedenborg always "wrote under control,"--of a spirit, he evidently meant. The reply given was, that in the Theological Writings Swedenborg always wrote under inspiration of God; that is, under control not of any spirit, but of the Divine Spirit Itself directly, which enabled him to write the Divine Truth of the Word. We had meetings for conversation at the house of the Gustafsons on three evenings. There is on the part of the friends in Rockford an earnest desire to receive instruction in the doctrines. And they expressed their appreciation of this missionary visit in warm terms.

     October 3d was spent at Glenview. It was a pleasure to be present at the Friday evening supper and doctrinal class. Pastor Pendleton gave an interesting and edifying talk on creation, in the course of which several questions were asked and replied to by him, from which the subject appeared in a clear light. It would be useful for such talks to be reported for the readers of the Life.

     Saturday evening. October 4th, I arrived at Bourbon, Marshall county, Indiana. The New Church people here are Mr. and Mrs. John D. Fogle and Mrs. Hubert H. Tyrrell. On Sunday and Monday evenings discourses were read at their homes. There was a lady friend of their's visiting them at the time, who has been a member of the Presbyterian Church, but who has for several years been dissatisfied with the old erroneous beliefs. It seemed hopeful that she made a start to become a believer in the Heavenly Doctrines. She accepted copies of Odhner's Brief View and The Life and Work of Swedenborg.

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These small works are well-adapted to beginners, and will open a new world of thought before the mental vision of those who are prepared to "enter in through the gates into the city."

     A short visit was made at Marion, where Mrs. Mary Wade and her grand-daughter are the only New Church people we know of. As usual, on my tours, the two days passed very quickly with our friends at Kokomo. There has been no increases in the number of the little Circle in that city,--Mr. and Mrs. G. W. Defenbaugh, and Messrs. W. H. McReyolds and I, M. Martz. They have been intensely interested in the discussion of the subject of the Writings, which has been presented so fully in the Life: and believe that they are the Word of God to the man of the New Church,--the Revelation of the Divine Truth, in which the Lord has made His Second Advent.      JOHN E. BOWERS.

     At Richmond, the only person we know of who is decidedly interested in the doctrines now, is Mr. James A. Powell. It is always pleasant and useful to visit with him. While there, on the evening of October 10th, it happened that two ladies called to see Mr. Powell's aged mother, who is an Episcopalian. In the course of the conversation, one of the ladies told us that she has not been a member of any church for eight or nine years; that she had become dissatisfied, and been waiting for a more reasonable religion. Several points were explained, as to the general doctrine, the Trinity being one of them. The lady declared, after listening with eager attention, that she believed what had been said. She said also that she had a strong impression that she ought to come to Mrs. Powell's house that evening. The reason why she was moved to do so she did not know, but after the conversation thought it was because she was to hear about the new doctrine. Possibly she may be in a state receptive of the truth; at any rate, she has an opportunity to make a beginning, because she took with her a copy of the Brief View. JOHN E. BOWERS.

FROM OUR CONTEMPORARIES.

     THE UNITED STATES. We learn from the Messenger of September 10th that there is "a movement on foot in Washington, D. C., for the formation of a second New Church Society. This is said to be the culmination of a feeling that has been growing for some years past, owing principally to what is regarded as the ritualistic tendencies of the Washington Society. It is understood that the new society in contemplation is likely to have such support as will enable it to call a pastor at an early day, but no name has been considered in that connection."

     The New Church Summer School at Almont, Mich., had a very successful session this rear, and was marked by an increased attendance, greater regularity in attendance, more faithful and thorough work, a sphere of greater devoutness and espirt de corps. At the closing exercises nearly seventy persons dined together, and addresses were made on various subjects. Mr. Whitehead spoke on the New Church; Mr. Henry Wunsch, of Detroit, on the Michigan Association; Dr. W. Hamilton on the Almont Society; Mr. James R. Hamilton on the Summer School: Mr. William Wunsch on the Young People's Society, and Mr. Schreck on the Future of the Summer School. "Songs of various kinds were introduced at intervals, sometimes heightening the cheer and festivity, and again seeming to hide the emotions which were profoundly stirred when the Lord's manifest working in the school was referred to by the speakers."

     A new repository and communion table were recently presented to the Society in Lakewood, 0., and were dedicated with appropriate ceremonies by the pastor. Rev. James Taylor. Within the repository the Word rests on a gilded stand.

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The back of the repository is lined with pleated silk of a shade representing the rays of the sun. The sides and top of the repository are lined with red plush. During the summer a number of the members of the Cleveland Society attended the services in Lakewood.

     GREAT BRITAIN. The N. C. College has issued a "Notice to studious New Churchmen" urging young men who desire to assist in the work of the Church to join the College as students. The Notice calls attention to the fact that "a majority of the New Church Societies have at present no permanent ministers and are dependent...upon visiting missionaries and the services of their own members."

     In pursuance of the Plan for the study of and examination in the Writings, recently inaugurated by the Swedenborg Society, as noticed in a recent issue of the Life, the Society has now adopted New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Doctrine, and Heaven and Hell, as the textbooks for study. The former work is for candidates of Class I, who are to be between the age of 21 and 25: and Nos. 1-264 of the latter work for candidates of Class II, who are to be between 16 and 20 years old. The examinations will be held next April, and two prizes, consisting of the Society's Publications, will be awarded to each class. The Junior Members Society is cooperating with the plan to the extent of adopting the above-mentioned text-books for its Home Reading Plan.

     At the Harvest Thanksgiving Services held at Bolton last September, the pulpit was occupied morning and evening by a New Church minister (Rev. Mr. Freeth): in the afternoon it was filled by a Congregational minister, who is reported in Morning Light to have preached "a most instructive and profitable address."

     The Rev. W. H. Buss, after a very short pastorate, has resigned his connection with the Bristol Society.

     It has been decided to sell the property of the now defunct Bury Society, the proceeds to be held by Conference for the benefit of future efforts in the town.

     Mr. H. J. Whiteside has resigned the leadership of the Chester Society owing to ill-health. At the Second Annual meeting of the Society, held last September, a decrease in the membership was reported owing to two removals from the city.

     The Rev. H. Gordon Drummond, of Bath, has accepted the pastorate of the Dalton Society, where he commenced his labors last September.

     The new building recently erected by the Plaistow (London) Society, the foundation stone of which was laid last April, was opened with appropriate services and a social meeting, on July 27-28. In addition to the pastor, four ministers and two "leaders" from neighboring New Church Societies were present.

     Mr. Harry Deans, who has just completed a four-years' course at the N. C. College, has accepted the invitation of the Willesden Society to become its minister. Mr. Deans enters upon his new duties in October.

     Another name has been added to the growing list of defunct New Church Societies. The "leader" at Wincanton writes to Morning Light, "I am sorry to report that after 26 years of more or less success, the New Church Society in this town came to a termination yesterday. For some time the number of members has been lessening. What with deaths, departures, marriages, (!) and other changes, the resident number was reduced to six. It was finally decided to close on the last Sunday in September."

     IRELAND. What was probably the largest New Church gathering ever held in Ireland was held in Belfast last September.

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The occasion was the annual meeting of the British Association, which brought a number of New Church people, including Rev. J. R. Rendell, and Rev. E. Jones, to visit the city. The visitors, together with three or four local members of the Church, met on Wednesday, September 10, at the home of Mr. Geo. Trobridge, about a dozen persons being present. A brief service was conducted by the two visiting ministers, after which addresses were given by several speakers.

     SWEDEN. The New Church in Stockholm has this summer enjoyed the visits of a number of friends from abroad. Mr. Alfred Stroh, a recent graduate of the Academy Schools, has been in Stockholm since the month of July, superintending the work of copying several of Swedenborg's unpublished scientific manuscripts. This work is now progressing rapidly and in a satisfactory manner, as is also the work of phototyping the second volume of the MS. to the Spiritual Diary, the latter under supervision of the Rev. Joseph E. Boyesen. The Academy of Sciences, where Swedenborg's manuscripts are preserved, is about to erect a new building, in which there will be a special "Swedenborg room." Mr. Stroh may prolong his visit in Sweden until the spring of next year. He has collected a number of interesting and valuable pictures and documents relative to the history of the New Church.

     Among the other visitors were the Rev. James Hyde, of London, who spent some weeks at the Royal Library and elsewhere, for the completion of his bibliological investigations. The Rev. T. F. Wright and wife, of Cambridge, Mass., and Miss Worcester, of Boston, visited the societies in Gottenburg and Stockholm, Dr. Wright, on August 14th, preaching in English to the Society of Mr. Manby, the latter acting as interpreter in the pulpit. Finally, about the middle of September, Mr. John Pitcairn, of Bryn Athyn, paid a flying visit to Gottenburg and Stockholm, where he met the New Church ministers who are now working in Sweden.

     SWITZERLAND. The annual assembly of the Swiss Union of the New Church was held at Zurich August 17th, forty-five persons being present. The president, Rev. T. Gorwitz, reported eighty-nine communicants in Switzerland, of whom 47 reside at Zurich, 21 at Herisau, and 7 at Nesslau. Three new members were received into the Church. The income of the Union during the past year was over 5,00 fr., and the expenses 31283 fr. The funds now amount to 22.000 fr.

     GERMANY. The little Society in Berlin recently received an unexpected, but very welcome, gift from Herr H. N. Thielsen, of Flenshorg. in Holstein, who ordered for the Society a complete set of all the Writings of the New Church in the German tongue, together with a number of the collateral works. The nucleus of a library has thus been formed, and Mr. Thielsen has, besides, presented a considerable sum of money to defray current expenses for the maintenance of services, etc.

     AUSTRIA. Mr. X. Lux, a young member of the New Church in Vienna, who is at present at Cambridge preparing for the ministry of the New Church, writes as follows to the Bote respecting Dr. Max Neuburger, who has lately arisen as a champion of Swedenborg's scientific works: "I had the opportunity of meeting Dr. Neuburger in Vienna, and found in him a highly cultured and intelligent young saonnt who enjoys great respect in his own circles. Dr. Neuburger is first assistant of Professor Benedict, of the Vienna University, and is also 'Docent' [lecturer] on the History of Medicine at the University and corresponding member of most of the Academies abroad. His attention was first called to Swedenborg through Emerson's lecture on "Representative Men," where the writer praises Swedenborg as a physiologist.

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'If a layman judges thus, it might be interesting for a specialist to form some idea of Swedenborg, who is quite unknown.' Thus reasoned Dr. Neuburger, and went forthwith to the University library to get some works of Swedenborg Great was the astonishment of the librarian at this request. He barely knew the name of Swedenborg, and how could there be anything by him in the library! But Dr. Neuburger insisted, and sure enough, after much distress, Swedenborg's OEconomia Regni Animalis was brought to light and handed to the doctor, who now began to study this work with ever-increasing interest, finding in this study such pearls of great learning and profound wisdom that he could not avoid communicating his investigations in this field to the learned men in the Assembly of German Naturalists and Physicians in Hamburg, and thus to excite them to investigate for themselves. Whatever may be the effect of Dr. Neuburger's coming forward in advocating the study of Swedenborg, we believe that it will bring rich fruits for the courageous scientist. He is the first man of German tongue who has in mind to make common property in our own language of Swedenborgs great work on the Physiology of the Brain." (Bote der Neuen Kirche, October, P. 18.)

     In a letter to the editor of the Life, dated September 17th, Dr Neuburger expresses his appreciation of the translation of his address, which appeared in our June issue, and describes the difficulties of finding a publisher for his proposed translation of Swedenborg's work, De Cerebro, and requests us to bring this question to the attention of the Swedenborg Scientific Association.

     He believes that the publication would "enjoy a higher authority if it had the Association behind it. And though your Association primarily has in mind the Anglo American public, still I believe that an active propaganda for the great Seer of the North would be introduced particularly among the Germans by means of translation and publication In the German tongue. If the Association, as the next work, would prefer the translation of the OEconomia Regni Animalis, I am prepared to enter upon this work."

     A new opportunity for a good and great work has thus providentially arisen, and the New Church in America and England should not allow this opportunity to slip by default. The Germans are, pre-eminently, a nation of a scientific genius, and it is possible that others may be reached, as was Dr. Neuburger, by means of Swedenborg's scientific works, when, from prejudice or from the generally prevailing sphere of religious indifference, they would not at first take up with any of the Theological Writings. Without being led away by any enthusiastic expectations of immediate results, the members of the New Church should give all possible encouragement and support to this new laborer that has arisen in a new and unexpected field.

     HUNGARY. The services of the Society in Budapest are at present conducted only in the German language, but it is intended to open services in the Magyar tongue before long. At present only three New Church works are accessible in Hungarian, the Doctrine of Life, Le Boys des Guay's Letters to a Man of the World, and Dr. Ellis's Skepticism and Divine Revelation.

     The Late Professor Scocia.

     ITALY. As previously announced, the death of Professor Loreto Scocia took place at Florence on June 11th, 1902. While our time and space forbid our entering as it deserves into the history of the life and work of this, the first evangelist of the New Church in resurrected Italy, we compile the following resume from his autobiography (published in 1885), and from numerous other documents:

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     Loreto Scocia was born at Rocca di Mezzo, a suburb of the city of Aquila, in the Abruzzi, on February 26, 1536. His parents, being Roman Catholics, entrusted his education to an old parish priest, who taught him the knowledge of Latin, which was to serve him so well in his future life work, and sought to awaken with him a taste for an ecclesiastical career. But though his education was completed at a Jesuit College, his whole mind turned to the study of Law, which he pursued until, in 1860, he was imprisoned and cruelly maltreated for taking part in the revolutionary movements of "Young Italy" against the tyranny of the Bourbon governments.

     Escaping from prison in 1861, he took refuge in Corsica, where, through a Protestant minister, he received a copy of the New Testament. Through the reading of this forbidden book he was set completely free from the bonds of his "Babylonish captivity," and entered with great zeal into the missionary work of the Wesleyan denomination. After laboring as a Methodist preacher for several years and in various places in Italy, he resigned from the ministry in 1868, and removed to Lausanne, Switzerland, where he obtained appointment as Professor of Languages in two colleges.

     It was while here that he "accidentally" for the first time heard the name of Swedenborg and of the New Church. After some fruitless efforts to obtain possession of any of Swedenborg's works, he finally discovered a copy of Heaven and Hell in a library in Lausanne, the reading of which utterly upset all his former notions. He now procured the other works, and not only heartily received the entire Doctrine of the New Jerusalem, but became filled with the desire to devote his whole life to the work of translating all these Divine Writings for the benefit of his Italian countrymen.

     Having made an appeal to the New Church in England and America for aid in this great undertaking, and meeting with instant and generous response, he removed with his wife to Turin, where he began to promulgate the Heavenly Doctrines through public lectures and through a monthly journal, published by him under the title La Nuova Epoca (the New Age), which he kept up till the year 1886. While in Turin he published the first of the Writings in Italian, Della Nuova Gerusalemme e della sua Dotrina Celeste (1869), which, the next rear, was followed by Del Cielo e dell' Infenro.

     At the request of his friends abroad, Signor Scocia, in 1873, removed to Florence, where a few American and English New Church families resided, and where it was thought he might gradually build up a society. In this expectation he was disappointed, however, for he "found the soil in that city very unreceptive, indeed." Nevertheless, he kept up his literary work without interruption, bringing out La Sapienza Angelica sulla Divina Provvidenza in 1874, Sul Divino Amore e sulla Divina Sapinza in 1877, Esposizione Sommaria delle Doctrine della Nuova Chiesa in 1879, II Decaloge spiegato and la Vera Religone Christiana 1880-1884, a biograph of Swedenborg in 1882, Sul Cummercio dell' Anima e del Corpor in 1885, and le Terre nel Cielo stellato in 1886.

     By liberal advertising several thousands of these volumes were sold throughout Italy, and about a hundred persons.--among them several Roman Catholic priests,--are said to have received the Doctrines. A general national association was formed in 1877, but does not seem to have been very active at any time, the burden of the whole work still remaining upon the shoulders of Signor Scocia, who, in consequence of his arduous labors, became severely ill in 1886. When restored to health, in 1888, he began to publish a small monthly periodical, called Biblioteca della Nuova Epoca, as a successor to La Nuova Epoca, finished the translation of the Four Doctrines in 1889, and in the same year made a visit to the New Church centers in Zurich, Paris, and throughout England.

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Returning to Florence, he published La Dottrina di Vita in 1890, translated the work On the Last Judgment in 1891, and issued an adaptation of the English Conference Liturgy in 1892.

     Believing that the time had now arrived for a more public organization of the New Church in Italy, he issued a call for a general meeting of the receivers to be held at Florence, but found that some were decidedly opposed to the formation of a separate ecclesiastical body, while the great majority were timid and uncertain. Still, in January, 1893, he opened regular services of the New Church at his home in Florence for a little flock of about a dozen attendants. He now spent some years in translating the first volumes of the Arcana Caelestia, in missionary journeys through Italy, and in keeping up an extensive correspondence with the scattered receivers, the most earnest of whom he found in Sicily, where, near Palermo, a small society of young men was founded.

     In July, 1899, he suffered the loss of his beloved wife, a German lady who for years had been the able assistant in his literary labors. During the winter of the same year he paid a second visit to the New Church societies in England, and, on his return, published a very able evangelistic exposition of the whole doctrinal system of the New Church under the title Le Dottrine della Nuova Chiesa di fronte alle dottrine della Chiesa odierna (the Doctrines of the New Church face to face with the doctrines of the modern Church, Florence, 1900, pp. 127)

     During the last years of his life he found occasion to fight a noble battle in a public journal for the New Church against the insinuations and misrepresentations of a band of spiritists, and, as a consequence, had the joy of assisting in the formation of a vigorous little society of earnest New Churchmen in the city of Trieste, in Italian Austria. His last work was a treatise on "The Errors and Dangers of Modern Spiritism," which, we fear, has not yet been printed. By those who have met him, he is described as a very gentle, affectionate and cautious man, with an almost feminine beauty of face and manners, but nevertheless most persistent and untiring in his loyalty and service to spiritual principles.

     His name will ever be honored in the history of the New Church, side by side with the names of such pioneers as Immanuel Tafel, in Germany, and Le Boys des Guays, in France.
SPIRITUAL DIARY 1902

SPIRITUAL DIARY       Rev. ALFRED ACTON       1902


Announcements.




NEW CHURCH LIFE.
VOL. XXII.          DECEMBER, 1902.                No. 12.
     A REVIEW

     WITH the publication of the fifth volume of the English translation of the Spiritual Diary the whole of that work is for the first time accessible to the English reader, and the labors of the editor and translator (Rev. J. F. Buss), which have extended over a number of years, are brought to a conclusion.

     The first three volumes of the translation were issued in quick succession, the third being published in 1882. The first of these volumes contained the unrevised translation by the Rev. J. H. Smithson; while the second and third contained the translation, also unrevised, made by Prof. Bush, who had carried on the work begun by Mr. Smithson. After the publication of these volumes it was recognized that, owing to its many inaccuracies, Prof. Bush's MS. needed considerable revision before being printed. The volumes already published were, however, allowed to remain uncorrected, but before proceeding further the MS. translation was entrusted to the bands of the present editor. Seven years later, in 1889, the fourth volume made its appearance, the delay being largely due to the very radical revision which was found to be necessary; indeed, only the first part of the volume was revised. Mr. Buss having soon found in the course of his work that more satisfactory results would be obtained by his undertaking an entirely new translation,

     And now, thirteen years later, appears the fifth and last volume. In his preface, the editor explains the long delay as being due both to the pressing and immediate nature of his other duties, and to his own growing ill health. Serious as these drawbacks must have been, it is a matter of gratification that they have not proved so great as to prevent the completion of the English Diary, and we congratulate Mr. Buss on bringing his work to a successful conclusion.

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     It would be impossible in the limits of a review to give any adequate idea of the contents of such a work as the Spiritual Diary with its many and varied subjects covering as they do the whole region of the spiritual world. The book has been well described as a "rich store-house of spiritual facts;" and the more deeply we enter into it, the more inexhaustible do its rich treasures appear. In its pages are laid open the daily happenings of a new and hitherto unknown world. The every-day life of angels and spirits,-their loves and thoughts, their words and actions, their food and clothing, their habitations, cities, towns and villages, their occupations and studies, their recreations and sports, their joys and pleasures, their cares and anxieties-all pass in review before us in a series of vivid and ever-changing pictures. As we turn over the pages and these varying scenes open before our eyes we are lost in amazement at the wonders of the spiritual world,-its immensity and the varieties which it exhibits. And all are laid before us by one who was an actual eye-witness of the scenes described, and in most cases an active participant. His words are not the lofty words of poetic imagination, but the language of one who is striving to portray in the simplest possible manner the wonderful world into which he had been permitted to enter. He is not bent on convincing his reader; he takes no pains to apologize for his remarkable experiences, nor to protect himself from ridicule and contempt; his sole object is simply to describe "things seen and heard."

     But despite the simplicity and oft-times abruptness of the language, or, rather by help of these, the descriptions are so real and convincing that we pas by the words and our whole mind is engrossed in the things. When we take up the book we are as it were transported to another world, a world of new laws, of strange and unheard-of phenomena; a world in which are wonderfully portrayed to the sight the beauty and power of love, and the cunning and ferocity of hatred. And when we lay it down and return to earth, it is with an increased sense of the limitations of time and space, and at times also,-after some terrible scene of evil,-with a feeling of thankfulness that we are yet protected by the fixity of matter, and enabled to change and purify our spiritual surroundings.

     Apparently, there is no order, except a chronological one, in the multitude of varying scenes.

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We pass from the company of the highest angels to that of the lowest devils. On one page we are admitted to the peaceful scenes of heaven and on the next we view the terrible tragedies of hell at one moment we enter the delightful homes of conjugial love, and in the next we gaze upon the horrid haunts of nameless evils. This contrast is strikingly illustrated in the volume before us. The book opens with some paragraphs on the education of maidens and infants in heaven; we feel the beautiful sphere of the young girls; with them we delight in the simple treasurers which they prize, with them we sorrow when their flowers droop or their dresses appear spoiled, and with them we are glad when they have learned their fault and things, again appear bright and happy; we are affected with the learning their first lessons at sweet innocence of the little infants learning their first lessons at the knees of their angel-mothers, and we imagine their progress as though they were before us. But no sooner have we read about these lovely scenes, than we come to paragraphs treating of "The sphere I of violation," and "The Last judgment;" and from these, again, we are introduced to a contemplation of the subject of "Illustration by means of the Word." And so in like manner throughout the volume.

     Yet there is an order in these miscellaneous topics,--the order in which the Lord revealed to Swedenborg the innumerable phases of the spiritual life. Every experience he had, every new scene on which his eyes tested, was for the purpose of enriching him in the things needed for the comprehension of the next scene; and all conduced to storing his mind with those spiritual ideas which enabled him to set forth in order the doctrines of the New Church.

     Perhaps the most marked feature of the Spiritual Diary is the revelation there given as to the state of the Christian world. The mask of external order and decency with which that world is covered from the sight of men is here torn asunder and the world is seen in the light of heaven. There is no need to adduce the doctrines on the state of the devastated Church that state is laid before us in its actuality. Hundreds and hundreds of "Christian" newcomers to the other world does Swedenborg meet; scores of those whom he had known on earth; and in how many cases was it not seen clearly that the garb of learning and religion which deceived the world was but the hiding-place of stupidity and irreligion!

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How great is the multitude of priests whose atheism is laid bare! of the pious and devout whose hypocrisy is uncovered of the honest and sincere whose wiles and deceits are brought forth to the light of day! of those professing chastity and the love of marriage who rush straightway into all manner of filthiness and adultery! And how small the number of those who are really devout or sincere or honest!

     It is especially in respect to the conjugial that the state of the Christian world is revealed. The whole of the Diary is replete with accounts of the adulterous sphere which prevails in Christendom. Of the myriads of new-comers there, there are few indeed who were in chastity, who could bear the sphere of a true woman, or who did not lust after the filthy spheres of hell. Almost all are minuteness violently opposed to marriage; almost everywhere is the sphere of adultery. It was no special class that Swedenborg met; he went everywhere in the Spiritual world and for years he daily met and talked with all sorts and conditions of men lately arrived from earth. And everywhere, among Christians, he saw the same evils manifested,--atheism, adultery, deceit. In the light of these descriptions, the state of the Christian world ceases to be a matter of doctrinal or theoretical discussion; it is a fact, a condition whose lessons we cannot escape. Swedenborg himself does not fail to point out the lesson of his spiritual experiences as bearing on the state of the world. In a letter to Dr. Beyer be says: "At the conclusion of every chapter [of Apocalypse Revealed] there are Memorable Relations.....which you will please read over first. From them a thorough knowledge may be gathered of the wretched state into which the Reformed Churches have been brought by faith alone," (Doc. ii, P. 239.)

     Another subject which occupies a prominent place in the Spiritual Diary is the allied one of the Last judgment, From time to time, as they occurred, are described the great and sudden changes which then took place. These records were afterwards used by Swedenborg himself when be wrote the little treatise On the Last Judgment, but this by no means lessens the value of the records themselves. For not only do they supply many particulars not noted in the published work, but they also present the matter in the order of its occurrence, and enable us to see, as in a panorama, the change which, step by step, overtook the world of spirits.

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We see that world as it was before the great event, with its state of evil rapidly ripening for the final outburst, the last effort of infernal malignancy; we behold the outburst itself and watch the impotent fury of hell as it is judged and condemned by the power of heaven; and we catch a brief glimpse of the state which afterwards succeeded.

     It is only in the first part of the volume before us that the Last Judgment is treated of, the matter being continued from the fourth volume. In the present volume the closing scenes of the judgment are described,-the events of the latter part of march and the beginning of April, 1757. Some of these events are recorded nowhere else in the Writings, while others are here described with a minuteness which throws much light on the accounts given elsewhere. There are also many new particulars in the statements which follow, which bear upon the effects of the Last Judgment. Thus we read of some minor judgments which most probably took place in the regions round about the new heavens; and in No. 5966, which was written many months after the Last Judgment (see No. 5980), we read of spirits "who still endeavor to flee away where those like themselves were." "But," the passage continues, "inasmuch as those places have been given to angels, they are now unable to force themselves so far, but are removed in the ascent and carried away...to their own places." And, later on, we come to a similar passage, wherein Zinzendorf is presented as having inquired of his brethren about heaven, who had informed him "that they had possessed heaven, but possess it now no longer, and that they seek and do not find." (No. 5993.)

     It can justly be said of almost any subject treated in the Diary, that new particulars are given which are not to be found elsewhere, except by way of suggestion. The last volume is by no means lacking in this respect. Indeed, because it has been a sealed book to the Church longer than its predecessors and its contents have therefore been little discussed, it seems to be particularly rich in the abundance of its new details respecting life in the other world.

     We have already referred to the passage concerning the education of young maidens in heaven. (No. 5660.) The account of the daily life of these girls will undoubtedly be as new as it must be interesting to the great majority of New Church readers.

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The girls live three to five in a house, each one having her own room, which is described with some detail. We see the girls themselves busily engaged, embroidering presents for their friends, or tending their own little flower gardens. We are told how they watch these gardens, and also their own clothes, for signs of the approval of heaven, and of their grief and trouble when those signs disappear. And lastly we learn about their religious instruction. "They have the written Word and Psalters, and they take hem with them to the preachings. They likewise read in them...and preachers sometimes visit and examine them."

     Some interesting particulars are also given respecting the natural food of angels and spirits. "They eat and drink just as in the natural world. . . . When it is dinner-time and also when it is supper-time, a table furnished with viands appears while the meal-time lasts, and disappears when they have dined and supped." This, however, only applies to the industrious. Others resort to begging, though this does not succeed long, for after a while they must either work or starve. "Bread can be bought in the places where such lazy men are, but not any other kind of food." This is because they wish to be paid for their work, and such wages can be spent in buying food. (No. 6088.) Another interesting particular given in the same number is that no food can be kept to the next day, and that if it is kept it breeds worms.

     The paragraphs of "Libraries in Heaven" (Nos. 5999 seq.) furnish several particulars illustrating the general teaching found elsewhere, to the effect that there are libraries in heaven. (C. L. 207.) Here we learn about the different kinds of libraries, the public and the private; their arrangements, and something of the rules by which they are regulated. We are also given a glimpse of the actual contents of some of these libraries. and of the wise men and the students who pursue their studies there. One statement of particular interest is that the students in the private libraries of heaven have communication with the wise men in the public libraries and are instructed thence in matters of doubt.

     In another number (6090), we are given some specimens of the spiritual language, namely, the expression "Vita vella" signifying Let him he afar off and depart quickly, and the word "Scapuleja" meaning To cast out of doors. These ideas are expressed by such words because "they fall into such unfoldings of the lips."

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Thus they can be represented on earth, though then they become mere sounds. So far as we are aware, there are only two other spiritual words given in the Writings, namely, "Adramandoni," the delight of conjugial love (C. L. 183), and "Malua," confusion and darkness (B. E. 56); but we are told that there are some others in the letter of the Word.

     There is some equally curious information about the writing in the other world. It is shown that every letter stands for an entire word, an illustration being given in the word "bone." When this word is written by spirits, "the b, signifies glory and majesty; o, along with, or among; n signifies the evil,--thus among the evil; when it signifies among the good there is a point above." (No. 6063.)

     A still more striking example of the new things about the other world with which the Diary is full is given in the section on the skill of spirits as calculators (No. 5956). There is nothing like it in all the rest of the Writings. We quote a few lines of this extremely interesting number, vividly illustrating the subject of the occupations,--the business occupations--of spirits. "They have business transactions there and have servants who render an account; and they give these servants charge of what they sell and buy, and enter it in journals or books as is done in the world. When they inspect these books, they compute and examine the entries so skillfully that what men in the world do in several days or weeks, they accomplish within a quarter of an hour. They instantly see where there is an error and where there is deception and neglect." It is hardly a matter of surprise that "their servants are faithful, because they can immediately find out where there are frauds."

     Another number (6035) will be of interest to our medical friends. There we learn that there are in the spiritual world those who make cures by administering medicines which correspond to the disease, "but all from a spiritual origin."

     A realistic scene, and one not without its humor, is that described in No. 5932 setting forth a judgment scene in one of the milder hells. A certain man who was in the love of self went to this hell and straightway seated himself upon the judge's throne, being under the conceit that he had been admitted to the society that he might act as the judge.

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Then the crowd, evidently resenting the intrusion, began to play tricks on him. Some went behind the throne, others crawled under it in both directions; at last the poor "judge" became invisible even to himself, retaining only the knowledge that he was there. They also made fun of him by sitting near him and over him. While they were engaged in these impish tricks, the real judge suddenly came out of his room and sat upon the throne at the right hand side. "There appeared as it were a fieriness in his right cheek, and afterwards in his left cheek also, which was a sign not only that he was the judge, but also that he would administer judgment. He enquired whether anyone had committed evil. Some were arraigned and sentenced to punishment, the rest being commended and let go. The judge tolerated everything as regards making fun and having their jokes, only they must not do evil to anyone." The passage then describes the methods employed by the policemen of the society to detect and catch offenders. They make search with "a sort of banner of a round form which shades off from dark to white," and when they have found the evil-doer they let this banner down upon him, and he lies under it unable to stir.

     But what, perhaps, will prove to many readers the most interesting passage in the whole volume is that in which particulars are given of the marriage of Empress Elizabeth of Russia to Count De la Gardie. (No. 6027). In all the Writings we have only one other account, and that a very brief one, of a marriage ceremony in the other world. (C. L. to.) The description in the Diary is, however, so very different that the two accounts can be regarded in no other way than as supplementary to each other. Both are necessary to a fuller picturing of the sweetness, the beauty and the delightsomeness of nuptials in the other world, and to a comprehension of the varieties which distinguish them in different societies. (H. and H. 383.) Moreover the marriage described in Conjugial Love took place in a society of heaven, while that in the Diary seems to have been celebrated in the world of spirits. The former account gives little more than the actual ceremony; we know nothing of the bride and bridegroom either before or after the marriage. In the Diary we have a more complete and detailed picture, including the progressive scenes from the first meeting of the lovers to the entrance of the consorts into their final home.

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First are described the lonely wanderings of the Empress to those whom she had known, to see whether she could meet her like. Returning from one of these journeys, she met, as If by accident, Count De la Gardie. A second and a third time she met him under like circumstances, and on the last occasion "they saw that the one was destined for the other, and they loved each other well." After a brief courtship, the marriage was decided on, and an angel was despatched to heaven to get a priest. The simple marriage ceremony is then described. Afterwards come the congratulations. First came infants and children whose sweetness was extremely affecting to the bride; then came those who had grown up in heaven; after these Russian spirits, and lastly the Societies of Heaven. There were so many who wanted to congratulate this illustrious pair that several spoke together making joint congratulation. Then we read of the marriage feast at which thirty persons sat down. The next day they journeyed to their own society and found there a splendid palace prepared for them. Lastly, comes a beautiful description of the blessedness and delight of their love for each other. Taken as a whole, the account of this marriage constitutes one of the most beautiful and affecting pictures of heavenly life that are to be found anywhere in the Writings.

     The latter part of the volume contains several sections on "Marriage and Adultery," the section which concludes the book being in effect a sketch of a treatise on the subject. This sketch covers over ten pages and is headed "Various particulars relating to marriage and adultery." It is an invaluable little work containing many particulars which are not only new and interesting, but also of doctrinal importance to the student, and of practical importance to every man of the Church.

     The above particulars are but a very few of the many interesting contents of this fifth volume of the Spiritual Diary, but they will be sufficient to point out the value of the book and to indicate the benefits conferred upon the Church, by its rendition into English. In a subsequent article we shall review the translation and editing of the volume.

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NATURAL THOUGHT CONCERNING SPIRITUAL THINGS 1902

NATURAL THOUGHT CONCERNING SPIRITUAL THINGS       Rev. N. D. PENDLETON       1902

     "And when they were come to a place which is called Calvary, there they crucified Him." Luke xxiii, 33.

     The Lord's cruel temptation in the garden of Gethsamene was in preparation for the cross. The sweating of blood betokened the end. No sooner was He returned to His disciples from the prayer, than He was delivered up into the hand of sinners. His trial and condemnation quickly followed, and as quickly the punishment. Of the two forms of death punishment,--stoning and the cross,--the cross was chosen. It was by far the most severe, as it entailed a lingering death, the sufferer often retaining consciousness for hours. The cross represented death from evils; stoning, death from falsities. The Jews were allowed to impose the cross upon our Lord, inasmuch as they were permitted to treat His body in a manner representative of the way in which they had, in the spirit, treated the Word. By evils of life they had already crucified the Word. Thus His betrayal and death represented, as to every detail, the betrayal and death, by that nation, of the Word in its possession, or of its own spiritual welfare; for upon the Word, and the treatment of it, depends the spiritual welfare of every nation, and, also, of every individual. That the Jews so treated the Word is further shown by their treatment of the prophets who represented the Word. It was as the Great Prophet that the Lord suffered death, or as the Word itself. And nothing so bespeaks the spiritual corruption of that age and nation as the incidents leading to His death. Think of it! The "whole multitude" rose up against Him when He was betrayed by Judas. The chief priests and elders condemned Him. The people beat Him with rods, and smote Him with their fists. They even spat upon Him and set a crown of thorns upon His head, and in every way made vulgar mockery of Him. But vile as were these things, the chief vileness lay in the interior corruption which these events represented. From the letter of the account it is evident that the populace of Jerusalem were brutal and blood-loving; from the spiritual sense it is clear that the Jewish race had defiled and destroyed the Word of God.

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This fact gives deep significance to the events connected with His crucifiction.

     It is known indeed that Divine Arcana are involved in these things; but they have been interpreted variously, most often falsely, even disastrously. For instance, the belief that the passion of the cross is redemption itself is a fundamental error of the Christian Church. This belief along with its companion piece, the doctrine of three Divine persons from eternity, has so perverted the thought of the Church that it no longer retains any spiritual truth. If we ask the Church of today to explain its scheme of salvation, or the mode of redemption effected by Jesus Christ, the acknowledged Son of God, it will answer that "God the Father, being full of wrath against mankind, not only separated them from Himself, but also sentenced them to universal damnation, and thus excommunicated them from His favor; but, because He was gracious and merciful, He persuaded or excited His Son to descend, and take upon Himself the determined curse, and so to expiate the wrath of His Father, and that thus, and not otherwise, could the Father be prevailed upon to look again with an eye of mercy on mankind. Finally, that this thing was actually so done by Jesus Christ, His Son, who, in taking upon Himself the curse pronounced against man, suffered Himself to be scourged by the Jews, to be spat upon, and, lastly, to be crucified as the accursed of God; and that by this means the Father was appeased, wherefore out of love towards His Son, He canceled the sentence of damnation; yet this was only done in favor of those for whom the Son should intercede, which Son thus became a perpetual Mediator for men standing in the presence of the Father."

     If we enquire into the cause of this interpretation we shall find that men have mistaken the passion of the cross for redemption itself, and that from this fundamental error have arisen false notions in a continual series. For when a false standpoint is taken all the legitimate conclusions drawn from it are of the same "family" with the original. In this case the original is the error concerning the passion of the cross, and it has caused the whole system of Christian theology to lose its spirituality, so that now it has become in the lowest degree natural. But this error was not merely intellectual, it arose from the disposition of men to ascribe merely natural attributes and propensities to God.

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And on the idea which men entertain of God and His redemption, all things of religion and the Church depend. Men can not think of God under merely natural attributes and propensities and yet entertain a spiritual religion. Therefore the first thing necessary to a true idea of God, a true idea of redemption, thus also to a true idea of theology and religion, is to abandon the thought of natural characteristics as pertaining to God, to cease thinking of Him as wrathful and as cursing His creatures. When this is done, the very foundation stone of the vicarious atonement will be removed, and the whole structure of Christian theology will fall.

     With this great stumbling block removed we may enquire anew for the meaning of the passion of the cross.

     There is but one other interpretation consistent with the idea of the Divinity of Jesus Christ, and that is given in the simple but sublime teaching of Emanuel Swedenborg. It is this: The passion of the cross was but the last of a long series of temptations whereby the Lord subjugated the hells and glorified His Human and thus granted redemption to all mankind. This interpretation when understood in its full scope opens the Scripture from Genesis to Revelation, and throws a new and spiritual light on every passage thereof. This interpretation is the foundation stone of the true and final theology, the corner-stone of the new and everlasting Christian Church. These two statements are sustained by the voice of revelation; they are therefore worthy of belief by all Christians.

     If then we regard the passion of the cross, not as redemption itself, but only as the final temptation leading to complete Glorification of the Human, whence flowed redemption, we shall be able to understand the remarkable words wrung from the Lord at the extreme moment on the cross. "About the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? That is to say, My god, my God, why hast Thou forsaken Me."

     Observe that the Lord came into the world for the sake of two things, the redemption of mankind and the Glorification of His Human. These two things are distinct, yet they make one with respect to salvation. Redemption was the result or the effect of Glorification; and the Human of the Lord was glorified by means of temptation-combats. Such temptations are a means of conjunction, and with the Lord they were a means of intimate union between the Human and the Divine, which union is called Glorification.

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In man temptations bring about the conjunction of the internal and external man. Yet during temptations the appearance is to the contrary. At such times it seems to man as if the internal man were but a myth, and as if the Lord were far away, when yet He is then most present, and the internal man is most active and living. This adverse appearance is produced, we are told, by an influx of evil spirits into the natural man.

     Now it is necessary for us to interpret the Glorification of the Lord in the terms of the regeneration of man. Thus, as the Lord seems absent from man during temptation, so was the Divine withdrawn from the Human during temptation. This was strikingly the case in His temptation on the cross. Hence the words "My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken Me."

     To the Human on the cross it seemed as if the Divine were utterly withdrawn. This was the last trial leading to intimate union. The Divine was as if withdrawn, in order that the Human might as of itself become Divine. The apparent contradiction in these terms arises from the peculiar appearances attending temptations.

     According to Matthew and Mark the words quoted above "My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken Me" were the Lord's last words on earth while yet the Son of Mary. According to Luke He "cried with a loud voice and said, Father, into Thy hands I commit my spirit." And according to John He said "it is finished," and then bowing the head He yielded up the spirit.

     All these statements involve one and the same thing, i. e., complete Glorification of the Human as a result of the death of the maternal Human. This is further confirmed by the statement in Matthew that immediately after His outcry because of the seeming desertion of the Divine, the "veil of the temple was rent in twain and the Earth did shake." The temple was a chief representative of the Lord, and the veil of the temple which divided between the habitation and the Holy of Holies represented the partition which, prior to complete Glorification, existed between the Human and the Divine. The meaning of the rending of the veil at this moment is therefore obvious; for when the Glorification was finished there was no longer a partition between the Human and the Divine.

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     To express this idea in the words of the Writings, the rending of the veil signifies that the Lord at the last moment "shook off all appearances," and "entered into the Divine itself," thus that He "opened a passage to the Divine itself by or through His Human made Divine."

     That the "earth did shake" is significative of the vast readjustment which took place when the Divine Human Glorified took to itself all power over both worlds. The Lord descended into the world as the Divine Truth; when He ascended He united the Divine Truth to the Divine Good, and from this union in Himself He filled the heavens and the Church, thereby changing the state of both. Of this stupendous fact He informed His disciples when, after His resurrection, He met them by appointment in a mountain of Galilee. There He said unto them "All power is given unto Me in heaven and out earth." This assumption of infinite, power over both worlds by our Lord after His resurrection is said to have brought about a change of state both in heaven and the Church. The nature of this change is of great interest to us. It is made clear by what is said of the Holy Spirit which came into being after Jesus was Glorified, and of its distinction from the spirit of God which was before.

     The distinction in brief is this. The spirit of God operated upon man in an imperceptible manner, while the Holy Spirit, proceeding from the Lord Jesus Christ, operates upon man perceptibly, enabling him to comprehend spiritual truth in a natural manner. The more we consider the change here indicated the more remarkable does it become.

     The people before the coming of the Lord could not comprehend spiritual truth in a natural manner. This is obvious from the nature of the revelations given to the ancient peoples. These revelations involve spiritual and celestial things, and these things were objects of perception by the ancient man, and yet the natural thoughts of this man could only approach such things by means of worldly types and images, thus indirectly. Hence the revelations given them were of necessity altogether clothed or veiled with such material representatives.

     But the people after the Lord's coming could comprehend spiritual truths in a natural manner. This is also obvious from the nature of subsequent revelations, especially the final revelation given to the crown of churches.

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In that revelation spiritual and celestial truths are absolutely unveiled, and are addressed directly to the natural-rational mind of man. Types and figures are no longer used in order to make an approach to things heavenly. This is meant by comprehending spiritual truth in a natural manner, and when this is done it is said that the holy spirit operates upon man perceptibly. This is a necessary consequence. And when the Holy Spirit operates perceptibly it also operates more powerfully. Herein lies the virtue and potency of the coming in the flesh, or of the Holy Spirit over the spirit of God as touching man's regeneration.

     In other words, the trinal operation of the Divine is now complete, reaching to the lowest states of human life in the world. The Divine in this trinal work is called by the names of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Divine creating is called the Father, the Divine redeeming is called the Son, and the Divine regenerating is called the Holy Spirit, and yet there are not three, but one, Divine.

     There was, of course, always a trine, inasmuch as the work of creating, redeeming and regenerating was always going forward. The Divine was constantly operating these things. But the trine was rather in potency than actually--the words at command fail to make a satisfactory distinction. At any rate, the trine after the coming of the Lord differed in a remarkable degree from that which existed before, as is manifest from what was said above concerning the distinction between the Holy Spirit and the spirit of God.

     And, speaking generally, there is this distinction as to all three. The creating Father, the redeeming Son and the regenerating Spirit are all become visible in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ, in whom, according to Paul, "dwelleth the fullness of the God-head bodily."

     By the Lord Jesus Christ, we mean not merely the man as He appeared on earth, nor yet as He hung upon the cross, but the Supreme and only God who rose out of the material body of the man, in a visible and Glorified Human form--a form retaining the image and likeness of the man.

     The Divine Human, which rose far above the heavens, was not before the incarnation; in its place there were human representatives, taken from the heavens and filled with the spirit of Jehovah.

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The difference, therefore, is between a representative and an actual Human made Divine.

     The representative Human was not of such efficacy. As indicated before, men could only be enlightened in spiritual things by means of representative types and figures, and this because the Divine could only appear by such means. This mode of enlightenment answered in the days when men lived nearer to the Divine, or before they had removed themselves from the reach of the spirit of God by indulgence in the loves of self and the world, thus before they had become external and sensual to the last degree. But the time came when a deeper reach was needed than could be made by the spirit of God operating through representatives, and this deeper reach or lower grasp could only be attained through an assumption of the flesh of man, making of that which was assumed a lower ultimate, and also a final type or figure, through and by which heaven and the Church could be filled with the Divine presence from highest to lowest.

     In the presence of the final type or ultimate Human, all subordinate and preexisting types vanish as shades before the rising sun. Hence the worship of men from being representative or symbolic, became actual and direct. For the One to whom the worship was addressed was become visible in His own Divinely accommodated Human form. The visibility of the Divine was what enabled men to think of spiritual things in a natural manner. Hence men began to address themselves directly to the consideration of spiritual things. This was never done before.

     The great change here indicated was not achieved at once or suddenly, but slowly worked itself out through the history of the first Christian Church. It came to its completion and fruitage with the Second Coming. And the New Church established by that Coming is, in a superior degree, in the power of thinking of Spiritual and Divine things in a natural manner. And this involves an increased efficacy of the Holy Spirit in that Church.

     Perhaps the matter will be clearer if we say that things Spiritual and Divine are now brought down and adapted to the natural thought of men as never before, and in a way inconceivable to the ancients.

     This adaptation of Spiritual and Divine things to natural thought is now so complete that it has opened the New Church to the absurd charge of religious sensualism.

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This charge is made by those who ignorantly think that whatsoever is rendered visible by being adapted to the ideas of natural thought is of necessity sensualized. Thus the New Church is charged with religious sensualism because heaven is revealed as a place or state in outward aspect like unto the world. "Ah!" it is exclaimed, "these people make of heaven only a sublimated worldly existence. What is this but a kind of religious sensualism? And to make the matter worse their Supreme God is a Man."

     It is true that men may place a sensual interpretation on the teachings of the Church concerning the other life, owing to the necessity of revealing Spiritual conditions in worldly language. But, on the other hand, the God of the old faith, though wrathful and vengeful, is yet invisible, and the heaven inconceivable; the consequence is that the devotees of that faith are able to think of Spiritual things, neither under types and figures, as did the ancients, nor yet directly in a natural manner according to the order of this day. What is left but that they should deny the very existence of such things, and fall into the worship of nature and of self in nature?

     If Spiritual and Divine things become not visible by means of sense-images of one kind or another, they must remain forever invisible, and this is tantamount to saying that they become unbelievable.

     Agnosticism and infidelity is the final resort of all who profess belief in an invisible God and an inconceivable heaven.

     Heavenly things must come down to man through sense-images. This, of course, implies a danger of a corrupt form of sensual worship. Because of this the ancient Church fell. But in order to avoid this very danger all the sense-images, the representative types and figures of things Divine, were gathered up into the Glorified Person of Jesus Christ; the worship of whom as the Man-God and the God-Nan is the only strictly spiritual Divine Worship now prevailing on earth. Wherefore the Church which thus worships Him is the only genuine Spiritual Church.

     It is a seeming paradox that this Church is Spiritual because it thinks of Spiritual things in a natural manner, but the paradox is in the words not in the ideas.

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     The Church is in this power of thinking, because of the rending of the veil in the temple, and because of the earthquake which followed; that is to say, because the Man Jesus became the visible and everlasting God. But full recognition of this fact was delayed until His Second Coming, at which time He became the Supreme God manifest in the Scripture. His Glorified Human was made visible by means of a new revelation of and from Himself-a revelation of the internal meaning of all Scripture, and of the fact that that meaning bears sole reference to Him.

     The worship of this visible God is therefore the grand privilege and crowning distinction of the New Church. It is something unique and pertains to that Church alone. Even the men of the former celestial age were not capable of it. The promise which it gives of the future spiritual development of the human race is beyond expression. The increased and increasing power of the Holy Spirit over men is the direct result of such worship. The communion of man with the visible God is the basis of such power.

     God becomes ever more visible, and as He does so the power of His Spirit becomes more efficacious.

     This is true of the life-history of the regenerating man. It is also true of the race. Hence we have successive and progressive revelations, beginning with the "dark sayings of old" and ending with the unmistakable words of Swedenborg. We observe, step by step all along the line through vast ages, the increasing visibility of God, and this followed by an increasing power in the operation of His Spirit.

     The last word has now indeed been spoken. The cycle of external revelation is ended. The future will give birth to internal revelation. In this way the Word of God will continue active and progressive. In this way the Lord will become ever more visible and the power of His Spirit will be magnified. In this way the race of men will become like unto the angels of heaven in the intimacy of their communion with the Divine.--Amen.

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VALEDICTORY ADDRESS* 1902

VALEDICTORY ADDRESS*       WILLIAM B. CALDWELL, B. TH       1902

(Read at the Graduation exercises of the Theological School of the Academy, June 13th, 1902.)

     Bishop and Professors, Members of the Corporation, Friends of the Academy,
     The time has come when we who have enjoyed the privileges of your instruction in the Theological School of the Academy are to take leave of you and go forth into the performance of the use for which you have prepared us. This leave-taking is accompanied with feelings of profound regret at parting with you who have presided over our studies and guided us by your wisdom for several years past; but when we consider that this parting is only an apparent one, and that we shall still be present with you in spirit wherever the field of our labors may be, these feelings give place to those of inspired hope and delight in the thought that we are now to become active in a use to our fellowmen, and to enter into the labors of those who have labored before us.

     We will greatly miss the daily meeting with you, and the daily learning of new truths from you, and even the rigor of disciplined thought stimulated by your zeal for the truth and for our growth in the knowledge and understanding of it, but we go forth laden with what you have given us, and we trust it may be the Lord's Providence that we may abide with you for many years to come in the love of the truths you have taught us, and in that spirit of imparting them in the uses of the priesthood, which you have striven to foster in us.

     And so in these words of parting we would not dwell upon the unpleasant duty of going from our beloved school, but rather upon the pleasantness in store for us when we will look back and think of the many delightful hours spent with you in studying the Doctrines of the Church, and in acquiring the knowledges which contribute to a true understanding of them.

     Many, many times in the course of our brief sojourn in this world it behooves us to say farewell to what we must leave behind in order that we may greet what is before us.

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We first bid farewell to the cradle, next to the nursery and the kindergarten, then to the school and college, and when we have greeted the world and its uses we must climb ever onward and upward to a higher, better and richer field of use, and bid farewell to those fields in which we have labored. Finally we must bid farewell to this world itself forever and pass into the other, which will greet us with the promise of eternal joy and happiness in the ever-varying vicissitudes of a heavenly life of use if we have greeted that life and embraced it in this world, and if we have taken leave of and forsaken merely worldly life and its fancied happiness; if we have laid up for ourselves treasures in heaven and not upon earth.

     In a spiritual idea of leave taking we may see that while from the first moment of life in this world even to the end of it, and afterwards to eternity, we will be leaving old states behind us continually and passing on to new ones, we will never leave what is of the Lord with us, for that is eternal, and He will never leave His dwelling place in us if we have once provided one for His reception by learning, storing up and living the truths of His kingdom, which is His eternal habitation in the heavens. He will then build His holy temple within us and abide there forever. "O Lord, Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; even there thy hand shall lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me." Psa. cxxxix, 7-10.

     But there is a leave-taking we must all fulfil, which is the parting with what is of self and the world if we are to enter into the Lord's presence and dwell with the angels of heaven in the performance of uses from Him and in Him. This is the parting, the giving up, which every man must be taught to execute in order that he may be prepared for the performance of a heavenly use of charity. By this preparation we build a habitation for the reception of the Lord's life, which is infinite, and given freely to all who will receive him in a life of use. Only in use can He have a dwelling place, for only in use is there life and activity.

     If we look out upon the broad theatre of the universe, the great circle of Divine Creation and Providence, which is ever creating and renewing, building and preserving in the infinite operations of Divine Use, and then view in man as a form of use the consummation of the Divine ends, for whose sake all created things lend their existence, we will see on the one hand our own littleness, the smallness of our own endeavor, the very minuteness of our own finite existence, when measured with the boundless universe, and on the other hand consequences of infinite worth and moment extending to eternity in the life of every one who will cast aside the conceit of human greatness, and in the humble acknowledgment of the Divine glory and majesty and power devote himself to the fulfilment of his destiny in a life of usefulness among his fellowmen.

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     And so the feeling that is apparent at this time is one of deep gratitude to the Lord for His merciful Providence in leading us into His Church, and into the desire of serving Him in the Divine work of teaching and leading those members of His Church who may receive our ministrations; and this gratitude we wish to express to you, who, as His servants, have labored in the garden of our minds to remove the weeds and cultivate the heavenly fruits of use, and thus to fit us to become laborers in His vineyard.

     It has been your endeavor to lead us into the love of the Lord's truth, into the pure love of the truth because it is the truth, and because it is the Lord with us, realizing that only one who comes into this genuine love really enters into the priesthood and its love of leading men by the Divine Truth of the Lord. We will pray to Him that He may give us to reciprocate your endeavor, and that we may receive from Him a meed of love and affection for the use of saving men for His kingdom.

     The honesty and sincerity of the priesthood is the love of the truth for its own sake. Only that man has faith in the truth who loves it and lives it because it is the truth. An honest merchant must have faith in the goods he would sell to another, an honest teacher must believe that the knowledges he imparts are true, and an honest priest must have faith in the God whose Word he preaches, and the only true foundation of that faith is the willingness to use himself what he would have others use, the priest his doctrines, the teacher his learning, and the merchant his wares. How vain and wicked to deceive the neighbor in our ministrations of use to him! How vain to attempt to conceal ignorance behind a show of knowledge, or to veil our false and preconceived notions with a persuasion of truth. Genuine wisdom clothes itself with a garb of modesty, and if we must first assume the virtue, having it not, let us spare no effort to cultivate that genuine humility within, which should ever be the bearing of man in his low estate toward the Ruler of the universe, the Fountain of all wisdom and truth.

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No man can perform uses from the Lord unless he shun self love, for to do them from the Lord is to do them from love to the neighbor and not from the love of honor and gain, for this is to hate the neighbor and to hate uses. And therefore the real preparation for use is in the discipline of self-denial, the giving up, forsaking utterly and leaving behind of selfish ambition, selfish gratification, and the delights of the body and the world so far as they draw the mind down from its higher delights. While we live in this world we are placed between two opposing forces, the one from hell, where there is the hatred of all use unless it serve self interest, the other from heaven, where from the Lord there is the love of all use for its own sake. With these opposing tendencies within us which favor one or other of these two impelling forces, we are brought into conflict while in the performance of uses in this world, and we must choose between obedience to the force of evil on one hand, and obedience to the force of good on the other. It is to prepare us for this conflict in ourselves that we must be fitted by parents and teachers in early life, in order that there may be the storing up of an ability and power to shun self-interest in the performance of uses to the neighbor. We must all do work for the neighbor whether we will or no, if we are to dwell in human society, but each one of us will be confronted with the question, "Shall I be content to work under compulsion or under the stimulus of the lust of gain, or shall I seek to put this away and learn the genuine delight of work itself? Shall I strive to do the Lord's will, or adhere stubbornly to my own?" And each one of us must make this choice. For "No man can serve two masters; either he will hate the one and love the other; or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and Mammon." Matt. vi, 24.

     Those who would serve two masters wish to love the Lord and themselves equally well, and also heaven and the world equally well, as if they might look up to heaven with one eye and down to hell with the other, and thus hang between. But there must be a predominance of loves, one over the other. The love of self and the world are opposite to the love of the Lord and the neighbor, and therefore those who are in heavenly love would rather die, and be deprived of honors and riches in the world, than be drawn away by them from the Lord and heaven.

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With those who love the Lord and heaven above all things, the internal or spiritual man is opened, and the external or natural man serves it, but with those who love themselves and the world above all things, the internal or spiritual man is closed, and the external man opened, and then they love one master, self and the world, and hate the other, the Lord and heaven. See E. 409 (d), and A. 933.

     What a flood of light is thrown upon the problem of life in the perception of this distinct choice which every man must make. With what clearness of vision we are enabled to see the two masters striving for supereminence in ourselves and in the Church. So long as we of the New Church endeavor to look with one eye toward heaven, and with the other toward the world, and are not willing with a singleness of purpose to choose between God and Mammon, forsaking the Mammon of unrighteousness and worshiping God alone, we are before His Divine Tribunal as those who are neither cold nor hot, and because we are neither cold nor hot, worthy to be spewn out of the mouth.

     When we have made the choice between the natural and spiritual, and when the spiritual has become master, then the natural becomes the obedient servant, so that we do not in reality leave it, but master it, and if this must be effected with pain and grief, surely the reward is great.

     By means of the external goods and truths of natural life we ascend as by steps or degrees to the internal goods and truths of spiritual life with their perceptions, and then the external or lower things which first were ends and afterwards means, finally become merely effects. This is the graduation which every man must make if he would ascend from the earth to heaven.

     In his preparation for the use of the ministry the student must be instructed in general truths and universal principles, in the light of which he is to study particular truths in the Word of God, and in the light of which he is afterwards to exercise his judgment and perception in all his relations with men. "The order of all teaching and learning in the Word is (to begin) from things most general; and therefore the sense of the letter abounds in most general truths" (A. 245), and we are taught that "doctrine is to be drawn from the sense of the letter of the Word and confirmed by it." (T. 229.)

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This is the only safeguard against falsity and heresy. From the letter of the Word are to be derived the general doctrines of the Church, but for the forming of the rational the universals of both the natural and the spiritual worlds, must be drawn from the Writings of the Church, and also from the scientific and philosophical works of Swedenborg, which set forth the natural truths by means of which he himself was prepared to become a servant of the Lord. In the light of these universal doctrines man is able to explore the interiors of both worlds, and there are two means to the exploration and unfolding of these interiors, infinite and glorious as they are in their richness. These two means are study and life. Neither one without the other can be wholly effective. To study external truths alone, and to abide in general doctrines without exploration of the interior wonders, and without life according to them, is to begin to grow and then to cease to grow, which is to die spiritually.

     We all know that our desires, our loves, our affections grow and grow and grow the more they are given freedom to live and go forth into act, and that they are fed by every means which comes to excite their activity. The desires of spiritual good are fed by truths just as the appetites of the body are fed by foods. But the body dies. How then should we live to eternity if truth from the Lord were not infinite? For to live to eternity we must receive new life and light from the Lord unceasingly, and verily we commit spiritual suicide if we open not our minds to the warmth and light of the Lord's life. If we live the truths we know in the myriad opportunities presented by Providence, and also search constantly for more and more interior truths, our spiritual vision will be extended, our spiritual life enriched, our hearts gladdened and our minds exhilarated with a perennial satisfaction unknown to him who is content to abide in the outer court of truth, and who entereth not into the inner chambers of the temple of wisdom. By doing the truth we grow interiorly because the good that is within the truth is thereby awakened to life, and then the truth ceases to be a mere shell without a kernel, a mere form without a substance, a mere body without a soul.

     Realizing more and more the living reality of the spiritual world, we must come to feel, as well as see, that the life and soul of all our uses, all our occupations, and all our activities in this world, are in that world.

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The states of mind within anything whatsoever we do are according to our spiritual associations, which change as often as the states of our loves and affections change, and every man does change his place in the spiritual world continually from infancy to old age. Our loves must be changed, affected and modified continually if we are to be moulded into more and more perfect men. And as this is true of our lives in general, which are but a preparation for heaven, it is also true of a course of study which prepares for any work or any use. A course of study means a series of visits to those societies in the spiritual world, where those dwell who are likewise masters and students of the subjects entered into. And when these visits have been completed and we are ready to enter into the use itself, we then begin a long and delightful journey among new societies, who will be associated with us in our use, but it is also a wonderful and inspiring thought that the longer we live, and the more our minds are opened interiorly, the more societies we are consociated with, and one and all they conspire to our every act and our every thought, and through them from the Lord we have that illustration of the Holy Spirit, for which every earnest reader of the Sacred Scriptures devoutly prays. (A. 6600.)

     And here again we may see that our choice between God and Mammon, between the service of the Lord and the service of self and the world, decides our spiritual company, whether it shall be heavenly or infernal. And in the struggles of making this choice, we must be valiant and brave, and put the infernal crew to flight with the Lord's help when they assault; and by a strenuous application to the duties of our calling, bring around us the heavenly hosts, who can only be present with the diligent. If we faithfully shun the evils that beset us in our uses we will be brought to acknowledge that all uses are given us by the Lord for our own sakes, in order that in the performance of them we may receive wisdom and happiness. For wisdom only comes with the affection for a use, and is only acquired by activity in that use. The employment of use is the greatest of Divine blessings, bestowed as a gift by a beneficent Creator upon His creatures, giving them the power to live and delight in usefulness, and the power to shun the infestations of the hells of the idle.

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And the interior delights of use are blessings infinitely transcending all those external delights, which attend every use in the nature of reward, emolument, honor and glory and fame.

     The true spirit of use, never infected with discontent, is nevertheless ever looking forward to a higher, better and fuller exercise of its capabilities; and as it looks forward to the future and provides for it, it reflects upon the past as a means to present and future action If we would benefit by the good of the past, let us act to the best of our ability in the present, and then when the present becomes the past, it will have added its own share of strength to the future. But "No man, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God." (Luke ix, 62.)

     And with what better watchword could we step forth into the cares and responsibilities, the joys and sorrows, the winters and summers of the life's work before us. A multitude of thoughts and feelings press for utterance on an occasion like the present, and I have voiced but a few, a very few. Let me conclude by expressing again our heartfelt thankfulness to the Academy and its faithful, painstaking, and earnest teachers, and generous officials, for all that the Lord has given them to do for us, and may His blessing rest upon them.

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SPECIMEN AND SKETCH OF THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW CHURCH IN A SUMMARY 1902

SPECIMEN AND SKETCH OF THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW CHURCH IN A SUMMARY              1902

[MINOR WORKS BY SWEDENBORG.]

     
     1. That the Churches in Germany, Hungary, Poland, Denmark, England, and Holland, which, by the Reformation, were separated from the Roman Catholic Church, differ from each other in various things; but that they all agree in the articles concerning a Trinity of Persons in the Godhead, the origin of sin from Adam, the imputation of the merit of Christ, and justification by faith alone. [Brief Exposition, 17.]

     2. That the Roman Catholics, before the Reformation, held entirely similar teachings respecting these four articles; similar respecting a Trinity of Persons in the Godhead, similar respecting the origin of sin from Adam, similar respecting the imputation of the merit of Christ, and similar respecting justification by faith, with the sole difference, that this faith they conjoined with good works. [B. E. 19]

     3. That the leading Reformers, Luther, Melancthon, and Calvin, retained all the tenets concerning a Trinity of Persons in the Godhead, the origin of sin from Adam, the imputation of the merit of Christ, and justification by faith alone, as they had been held by the Roman Catholics; but that, in order that they might be totally severed from the Roman Catholics as to the very essentials of the Church, which are faith and charity, they separated good works from faith, and declared that they were not at the same time saving. [B. E. 21.]

     4. That, nevertheless, those leading Reformers adjoined good works to their faith, so that no one can see from reason, whether they are conjoined or separated. [B. E. 24.]

     5. But that those leading Reformers adjoined good works to that faith in order that the doctrine may agree with Sacred Scripture; then there is a conformity and not a discrepancy, unless the quality of the works tends to make it. [cf. B. E. 27.]

     6. That the tenets concerning the imputation of the merits of Christ and justification thereby have come from the idea of a Trinity of Persons, and hence of three gods. [B. E. 30.]

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     7. That all those tenets appear as erroneous, and also become so, when the idea of a Trinity of Persons and hence of three gods is rejected, and the idea of one God, in Whom is the Divine Trinity received. [B. E. 39.]

     8. That then the faith of the Church of today concerning the reconciliation of the Father, satisfaction, mediation, imputation, and, from this, the remission of sins, and hence justification, regeneration, and sanctification, falls to the ground together with all else that depends on it.

     9. That in its place, faith truly saving, which is faith in one God, united with good works, is acknowledged and received. It is not imputative faith. [B. E. 41.]

     10. And that this faith is faith in God the Saviour Jesus Christ, and, in its simple form, is as follows: 1. That there is one God in Whom is the Divine Trinity, and that He is the Lord Jesus Christ. 2. That saving faith is to believe in Him. 3. That evils must be shunned because they are of the devil and from the devil. 4. That goods must be done because they are of God and from God. 5. And that these must be done by man as of himself, but that he must believe that they are from the Lord operating in him and through him. [B. E. 43.]

     11. That this faith can by no means be given together with the former faith, nor the former with it; and that if they are together, such a collision and conflict takes place that everything of the Church with man perishes. [B. E. 102.]

     12. That the faith of the Church of today has separated from the Church religion, which consists solely in goods of life according to the truths of faith. [B. E. 45.] That truths make the way to heaven. That in Hell [they approach*] the Father, but in heaven the true God.
     * The MS. here contains a word which Dr. Im. Tafel, the editor of the Latin edition, was unable to decipher.-Tr.

     13. That the faith of the Church of today has falsified the Word, since this teaches nothing but the goods of life and the truths of faith, and salvation by their union.

     14. That the faith of the Church of today has so far destroyed the Church, that, at this day, there remains not a single truth of the Word that has not been falsified, nor a single good of religion that has not been adulterated.

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     15. That this last state of the Church of today induced by that faith is what is meant in the Word by the Consummation of the age, and by the Abomination of desolation. [B. E. 70.]

     16. That this last state of the Church of today is what is meant by the "great affliction such as was not from the beginning of the world to this time, nor ever shall be." Matt: xxiv, 21. [B. E. 74.]

     17. That this state of the Church, induced by that faith, is what is meant by these words: "After the affliction of those days the sun shall be darkened and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken." Matt: xxiv 29; Apoc: viii, 12. [B. E. 77.]

     18. That they who have been and are in the faith of the Church today are meant by the he-goats in Daniel and in Matthew. [B. E. 82.]

     19. That they who have been and are in the faith of the Church of today are meant in the Apocalypse, by the dragon, his two beasts, and the false prophet, also by the locusts. [B. E. 87.]

     20. That they who have been and are in the faith of the Church of today are meant, in the Old Testament, by the Philistines; and the faith itself by their idol. That the rejection of the tenets of the faith of the Church of today and the revelation of the tenets of the faith of the New Church is meant by these words in the Apocalypse: "He that sat upon the throne said, Behold I make all things new: and He said unto me, Write, for these words are true and faithful." Chap. xxi, 5. [B. E. 95.]

     21. Further, that from the faith of the Church of today, not a single good work can ever come forth which is not meritorious or hypocritical; consequently, that the good fruits of that faith are empty words. For it is a faith of imputation that is meant. [cf. B. E. 47.]

     23*. That from the faith of the Church of today a worship has abounded which is of the mouth alone and without life; when yet the worship of the mouth is acceptable to the Lord and efficacious according to the worship of the life, and not the reverse. [B. E. 51.]
     * Number 22 is omitted in the original MS.-TR.

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     24. That the former faith is a bundle of paradoxes which cohere and do not cohere; and that, therefore, its tenets only enter into the memory and not into any understanding above the memory, but only into confirmations below it. For instance, the tenet concerning Freewill. [B. E. 53.]

     25. That the tenets of the former faith cannot be learned and retained except with great difficulty, nor be preached and taught except very sparingly and with great caution lest the nakedness of the faith appear; and this, because true reason perceives and receives nothing in them. For instance, the tenet concerning Freewill. [B. E. 58.]

     26. That the faith of the Church of today takes away from God His Divine attributes, and ascribes to Him merely human attributes; as, that He regarded men from anger; that He willed to be reconciled; that He is reconciled by His love for the Son, and by intercession; that He willed to be appeased by the Passion, and at sight of the misery of the Son; and thus to return to mercy and to impute and apply the merit of the Son to him who supplicates from faith alone; besides many other things. [B. E. 60.]

     27. That from the faith of the Church of today monstrous offspring have been born, and still may be born; such as salvation from immediate mercy; the doctrine of necessity, and the absence of liberty in spiritual things; that man, in respect to conversion, is like a stock and stone; that there is no bond between faith and charity; that there is predestination; and, with some at this day, that God pays no attention to the deeds of man but to faith alone; besides others; also in respect to the sacraments, Baptism and the Holy Supper, and, moreover, in respect to the person of Christ; all of which have been drawn, in accordance with the principles of reason, from justification by faith alone. Heresies, from the first centuries to the present day, have sprung up from no other source than from this faith. [B. E. 64.]

     28. That unless a New Church be raised up by the Lord no one can be saved; and that this is meant by these words, "Except those days be shortened there shall no flesh be saved." Matt: xxiv, 2. [B. E. 91.] The reason is, because the old Church is founded upon justification by faith alone, and this, upon the idea of three gods. Hence is all blindness and stupidity, unconcern, and the destruction of religion, so that scarcely anyone thinks about salvation.

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That they who are skilled in these matters think nothing of the salvation of souls, either of their own or of their hearers'.

     That the Reformed understand works of the intellect and not of the will, thus passive and not active words.

     29. That this Church is the New Jerusalem, mentioned in Apoc; xxi, which is there called the bride and wife of the Lamb. [B. E. 99.]

     30. That the faith of the old Church has shut heaven and that the faith of the New Church opens it.

     31. That the Roman Catholics at this day know nothing of the imputation of the merit of Christ, and of justification by faith therein, because they approach the pope as the vicar of Christ and worship saints, and only by monks are they taught about good works. [B. E. 105.]

     32. That, therefore, if they recede from the vicarship and from the invocation of saints, and take the Holy Supper in both kinds, and approach the Lord, they can be initiated and introduced into the New Church more easily than the Reformed. [B. E. 105.]

     33. That the faith of the New Church can in no wise be together with the faith of the former Church, and that if they are together such a collision and conflict takes place that everything of the Church perishes with man. [B. E. 102.]

     Analysis: That it must not be assumed that the imputation of the merit of Christ is retained, for thus a man, getting out of a pit falls into the pit again; because imputation is impossible, and faith therein has the same effect as before [so that] to escape Scylla he falls into Charybdis. [cf. B. E. 104.]

     Let the Sketch end with Jeremiah vii, 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11. [B. E. 115 "conclusion."]

     He who escapes the leopard falls into the clutches of the bear and is torn to pieces. [cf. B. E. 104.]

     He who rescues himself from five of the dragon's heads falls into the other five. [cf. B. E. 104.]

     The Lord conjoins Himself to man according to reception, and reception is according to life.

     That nothing added by man can be conjoined with the merit of Christ, either from its worthiness in comparison with that merit, or from its agreement with it. COROLLARY. Coronal Appendix.

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Editorial Department 1902

Editorial Department       Editor       1902

     THE NEW "HYPOSTATIC UNION."

     UNDERLYING the general denial in the nominal New Church of the Divinity of the Form in which the Lord has effected His Second Advent, there is the ancient denial of the Divine Human itself.

     "Because Christ was a man, he cannot be God." This spirit of denial, in the fourth century, led to the great Arian heresy and to its supposed antithesis, the heresy of Athanasius. The latter, in order to preserve in some way the idea of the Lord's Divinity, invented the dogma of an "hypostatic union" between the Divine and the human nature of Christ. Jesus was "God of the substance of the Father, begotten before the worlds; and man of the substance of the mother, born in the world. Perfect God and perfect man, of a reasonable soul and human flesh subsisting. Equal to the Father as touching his Godhead, and inferior to the Father as touching his manhood. One altogether, not by confusion of substance but by unity of person."

     This "unity" was termed "hypostatic," that is, sub-sisting, the human nature subordinate to the Divine. The human nature, the body in which the Lord arose after the resurrection, was thus declared to be merely human, to eternity remaining the Son of Mary, the weak and finite "manside" of Christ, subordinate to the Divine Nature, the Son of God, the "God-side" of the Lord, but united to it in one person, by a "mystical union." Of the glorified Human they had no conception. It was this insanity that led, among other things, to the worship of Mary as "the mother of God."

     We are taught that "those who deny the Divine of the Lord in His Human," "those who make God three and the Lord two," "those who favor the mystical or hypostatic union of the Divine and the human in the Lord" (A. E. 735: A. R. 537. 565), are the ones who are meant by "the Dragon" in the Apocalypse, and it is this same ancient Dragon who is even now pouring forth his deadly waters as a flood in order to engulf "the woman," the Lord's New Church. And now, even as in the days of old, he is persecuting the Church from within the Church.

     The Lord is the Word and the Word is the Lord. It is the Word, the Divine Truth, the Man-child, the Doctrine of the New Jerusalem, that is the real object of the Draconic attack. And it is upon the body, the form of the Infant, the language and expression of the Doctrine, that he breathes his Herodian fury. Now, as before, he tries to separate the body of the Divine Truth from its soul, the form from its substance, the letter from its spirit, cunningly admitting the Divinity of the "thought" while relegating the "language" to what is merely human.

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"Because the Writings are human, they cannot be Divine."

     "The thoughts are the Lord's, but the language is Swedenborg's." So runs the formula of the new dogma concerning the "hypostatic union" of the Divine and the human of the Lord in His Second Advent. Or, as expressed more fully in a late editorial of the Messenger: "There is always in Revelation a God-side, spiritual, infinite, Divine, and there is always a man-side, finite, weak, imperfect, and full of fallacious appearances. The truths of the New Jerusalem, as seen by Swedenborg in his rational mind, constitute the Lord's Revelation to the New Church. They are the internal sense of the Word." But tithe exposition of these truths in books, and thus the bringing of them within the reach of men on earth," this is an entirely different matter; this "is the man-side of these Revelations from the Lord." The Writings, therefore, "are Swedenborg's, and not the Lord's in an unqualified sense," and "should not be regarded as possessing the holiness of the truths of which they are the exposition, but, when considered apart from the fact that they contain such truths, should be regarded as possessing no quality that would differentiate them in any way from the writings of other men.

     What is there, in these irrational utterances, but the waters of the Dragon, who would destroy the Word by taking away from the Divine expressions of Divine Truths "the holiness of the truths of which they are the exposition?" The Lord Himself, what would He be but merely a man, possessing no quality that would differentiate Him from other men, if we were to consider Him "apart" from the Divine Truth which He taught and which was within Him as His very soul?

     The unsuspecting members of the New Church, who lie captive under the established dogma of the General Convention, are not yet awakened to the danger, the mortal danger to the Church, which lurks in that draconic doctrine. They do not realize that it is not only "Swedenborg's Writings" that are involved in this denial, but the Divinity of the Letter of the Word, and the Divinity of the Lord Himself. For the same principle of an "hypostatic union" between the human and the Divine elements in the Writings of the Second Coming, if acknowledged as true, will inevitably lead to a similar belief in that same kind of a union between the Divine and the Human in the Letter of the Word and in the Lord Himself,--a belief which is nothing but a denial of the Divinity of His Humanity.
NEUKIRCHENBLATT AND THE ISSUE 1902

NEUKIRCHENBLATT AND THE ISSUE              1902

     THE editor of our German-American contemporary, the Neukirchenblatt, who frequently pays us the compliment of his polite attention, in his issue for November writes as follows:

     "The whole effort of the Academy of late has been to show that every Revelation is 'the Word of God.' But the passages which they quote from the Writings do not prove this position.

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It almost seems as if the Academicians were acquainted with the German proverb: 'Hat man keins, so macht man fins' [What one does not have, one manufactures], for the editor of the Life, in 'The Testimony of the Writings concerning themselves' quotes this passage: 'Divine Doctrine is Divine Truth, and all Divine Truth is the Word of the Lord.' (A. C. 3712)."

     "Here, then," the editor exclaims, "we have what the Academy wishes to have: 'All Divine Truth is the Word of God.' The Academy has been hunting for this for twelve long years, and only now has it discovered this single passage! No wonder the editor underscores it!!"

     Our contemporary then indulges in some personalities which will do to obscure the real issue, after which he quotes the Latin of the passage in question in order to show how we have utterly perverted the original, and concludes: "Thus the only passage which, in the erroneous rendering of the Academy, would seem to support its doctrine, falls to the ground when correctly translated."

     The sentence, in the original, is "Divina Doctrina est Divinum Verum, et Divinum Verum est omne Verbum Domini." On the authority of the common versions of the "Arcana Coelestia," in English, German and French, the editor demands that this should be rendered as follows, and in no other way: "Divine Doctrine is Divine Truth, and Divine Truth is all the Word of the Lord," and he all but accuses us of intentional misrepresentation because we transposed the word "all," so as to read "All Divine Truth is the Word of the Lord."

     It is surprising that so eminent a scholar as Mr. Tafel, should have allowed his zeal against the Academy's position to so warp his critical judgment as to lead him into a criticism so puerile and unscholarly,--puerile, because, even granting that his translation were the proper one, the sense of the passage still remains the same as in our own rendering; and unscholarly because he has taken a single one of the meanings of omne and absolutely confined the word to that meaning, to the exclusion of every other rendering.

     We translated the sentence "all Divine Truth is the Word of the Lord," as meaning the same as "Divine Truth is all [of it] the Word of the Lord,"--a rendering appreciable by every schoolboy who has wrestled with the famous Gallia est omnis.

     But the real issue is not one of translation, but of interpretation,--of understanding what is meant by the teaching. Mr. Tafel understands that the subject of the teaching is the Letter of the Word, and he reads into it the notion that Divine Truth is the Word only when stated in the form of the Letter. But the context shows plainly that the subject is "Divine Doctrine," and the teaching is that all Divine Doctrine is the Word of God, in every sense. And why? Because "Divine Doctrine is Divine Truth, and all Divine Truth is the Word of the Lord." This is abundantly evident from the whole passage, which reads:

     "Divine Doctrine is Divine Truth, and all Divine Truth is the Word of the Lord [or, Divine Truth is, all of it, the Word of the Lord]; essential Divine Doctrine is the Word in the supreme sense in which the Lord alone is treated of; hence Divine Doctrine is the Word in the internal sense, in which the Lord's Kingdom in the heavens and on earth is treated of.

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Divine Doctrine is also the Word in the literal sense, in which worldly and earthly things are treated of. And whereas the literal sense contains in it the internal sense, and this the supreme sense, and altogether corresponds thereto by representatives and significatives, therefore doctrine thence derived is also Divine. Inasmuch as Jacob represents the Divine Natural of the Lord, he also represents the Word as to the literal sense, for it is known that the Lord is the Word, that is, all Divine Truth. (Omne Divinum Verum)."

     The Academy does not base its teaching upon any one passage, but upon the universal and self-evident law that the Word is the Divine Truth and the Divine Truth is the Word. It would be interesting, however, to know how Mr. Tafel would translate the following statements: "That 'words,' in the original tongue, also signify 'things' is because words' in the internal sense signify the truths of doctrine, on which account all Divine Truth in general is called 'the Word' (quapropter omne Divinum Verum in genere vocatur Verbum), and the Lord Himself, from whom is all Divine Truth, in the supreme sense is the Word." (A. C. 5075.)

     "And because the Divine Human is meant by 'the Word,' therefore by 'the Word' is meant all Truth, (omne Verum), which is concerning Him, and from Him, in His Kingdom in the heavens and in His Church on earth. . . . And because the Divine Truth is meant, therefore by 'the Word' is meant every Revelation, (omnis Revelatio), and thus also the Word itself or the Holy Scripture." (A. C. 2894.)

     We called these teachings to the attention of our contemporary long before this, but have thus far failed to elicit any response. But we would now ask the following plain questions of him (and of all who share his persuasion):

     Are the Writings "Divine Doctrine," derived from the literal sense of the Word? Is this Divine Doctrine "Divine Truth?" Is this Divine Truth a "Divine Revelation?"

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Monthly Review 1902

Monthly Review              1902

NEW PUBLICATIONS.

     Memoirs of the Society for Philosophical Inquiry of Washington, D. C. 1893-1901. Lancaster, Pa. 1902. Pp. 96.

     The brief summaries of philosophical discussions presented in this report is of interest to us on account of the very active part which Dr. Frank Sewall has taken in the proceedings. His name figures on nearly every page, either as presenting papers or contributing to the discussions, in which he invariably brings in the philosophy of his great master, Swedenborg. His arguments, as far as reproduced in the report, are lucid as well as profound, and in striking contrast with the abstruse and hazy speculations of the other speakers. It would be interesting to know in how far the rays of light were able to penetrate the general fogginess prevailing in the distinguished assemblies.

     Psychology of the Nations. By A. L. Kip. The Knickerbocker Press, New York, 1902. 234 pp.

     In this volume the author aims "to solve the problems of national psychology," i. e., the "particular, idiosyncratic faculty" and special correspondence and spiritual representation of every nation and people under the sun, and he does this without the slightest hesitation, and certainly without reference to the Writings of the New Church, pronouncing by an ipse dixit the correspondence of every country under the sun, simply by reference to some external characteristic casually observed by some passing traveler.

     Thus, in general, he has discovered that "the eastern hemisphere corresponds to the cerebrum and the western to the cerebellum;" while "the southern hemisphere, being composed for the most part of water, represents the right or intellectual side of the brain; and the northern hemisphere being made up largely of land, represents the left or emotional side."

     And on the basis of a few such general principles of home-made manufacture, he goes on to pronounce the correspondence of every land and province and colony and island of the round world. Thus China, because of its ancestral worship, corresponds to "the memory of interior things." The island of Celebes, on account of its peculiar shape, corresponds to "the knowledge procured by the projection of the mind into eternals." Persia corresponds to Imagination; Iceland to "the faculty of sang-froid" [!]; Belgium to "the faculty of estimating probabilities;" the Netherlands to "common sense:" Turkey to "the faculty of faith!" Algeria to the love of the sex, Fezzan, in Sahara, to "the indolent pleasure in watching the innocent games and pastimes of children."

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Mexico "corresponds to the faculty of mercy;" Colombia to 'the faculty of making the best of disagreeable things;" Venezuela to "the faculty of good nature!" Bolivia is the faculty of sarcasm; Brazil, humor; Argentine, indifference; Ecuador, scorn, etc., etc. And the Bermudas "correspond to truthfulness. It is doubtless from these islands that the English get their straightforward and truthful ways."

     In a truly patriotic spirit, the author assigns to the United States the highest possible correspondence, "the love of God," and each State in the Union represents some principle of this love. Maine corresponds to "the love of abstract knowledge about God;" Pennsylvania to "the desire to be like God indeed;" Kentucky to "the desire of doing as God would have us do."

     The book might seem at first as if intended for a huge joke of the worst possible taste, but the author evidently has written it in all seriousness and even devoutness. It fills us with grief to think of well-meant efforts so misdirected, and with indignation at the bad instruction which has led this author into such wrong paths.

     It is not difficult to trace the source of the author's inspiration to a series of volumes, entitled Correspondences of the Bible, by a late authority most eminent in the General Convention,-- books which, we are informed, have been used as text-books on the Science of Correspondences in a New Church Theological School. Throughout these volumes the author reasons in the way which is "contrary to order,"--from externals to internals, from physical qualities to internal correspondences, and thus he rushes into a mass of unsupported assertions, vague comparisons, sentimental metaphores, and absurd fancies. This teacher of teachers asserts, for instance, that the elephant "corresponds to the love of justice" and its tusks to "the truth of natural justice, by which all external appearances are stripped off," and this simply because the elephant occasionally uses its tusks to strip off the bark of trees for its food. The ostrich, we are informed, corresponds to "a state of severe and gloomy thought, deprived of all that is good and pleasant." The oyster corresponds to "the enjoyment of the Lord's protection and the repose which it brings!" The beech tree, because of its clean appearance, "corresponds to a principle of purity" and "the duty of singleness in marriage!" The pine-tree, on account of its sharp needles, "corresponds to the principles of personal independence and the right of seclusion!"

     It is evident that Mr. Kip learned his "correspondences" in the school of the author of the Correspondences of the Bible, but, though both may have "meant well" by their singular evolutions in the science of correspondences, it does not excuse such loose and pernicious methods in dealing with sacred subjects. For the science of correspondences is a sacred science and also an exact science, and is not to be entered into a posteriori, from external observations and self-intelligence, but a priori, from Divine Revelation. Books such as that under review are harmful to the New Church. To the public outside the Church they cannot but appear supremely ridiculous.

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To those within the Church they are misleading, are apt to foster wrong habits and methods of thought, and, worst of all, by their fancifulness they are apt to awaken among weaker brethren a doubt as to the exactness and trustworthiness of the whole science of Correspondences, and thus to make doubtful the Internal Sense of the Word.

     THE NEW CHURCH JOURNALS.

     The New Christianity. October. The Rev. Adolph Roeder, in the June issue, made the statement that "the Swedenborg Scientific Association is frankly and avowedly in the hands of the Academy." This statement called forth a protest, which is published in the October number of The New Christianity, and which is so unique in the history of the treatment of the Academy by its opponents that we cannot refrain from reproducing it in full.

     "I am not concerned here with the general question of Catholicism in the New Church and the part played therein by the Academy, but with your particular statement that 'the Swedenborg Scientific Association is frankly and avowedly in the hands of the Academy.'

     "All your remarks picture a true tendency, and if you mean by the quoted remark that the Academy could take over the entire movement, that is also true. You do, however, make an entirely erroneous impression of the way that state of affairs has been brought about. One might infer from your remarks that the Academy had overreached other Swedenborgians, and obtained control of the Association against its will. As a Convention man, who has been identified with the scientific movement right along, it is only just that I should put our Academy friends in a true light. And be it understood that I am in sympathy with scarcely a single distinctly Academic belief. I have no faith in the literal infallibility of Swedenborg, and there are certain minor principles that my reason declines to indorse. Nor do I believe in sectarian education or an ecclesiasticism.

     "Before the movement represented by the Scientific Association was inaugurated, very little attention was paid by New Churchmen to what are now called "the early works of Swedenborg." In total violation of the principle of sane scholarship, it seems to have been supposed that Swedenborg was immersed in falsity, or at least misconception, until about his fifty-sixth year, when he was suddenly deluged with great truths. With such notions in the popular mind there could he no real study of the evolution of Swedenborg's philosophy You climbed into the second story window and imagined it was hung from the sky with no foundation in the earth. But supposing that not a single principle of the early works were true, yet the most scientifically inclined person ought to recognize that no study of Swedenborgian philosophy would be complete without cognizance of all his works and all the philosophical ideas that he ever entertained.

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From the most strictly scientific standpoint there was, therefore, abundant reason why the Swedenborg Scientific Association should be formed.

     "Now when the call to form that Association was sent out, how was it responded to, and by whom? It had been my hope and expectation that it would appeal especially to the studious and the scientific of liberal tendencies, but such was not the case. Those who came forward at once, offering us their interest, enthusiasm, time and money, belonged to that much belabored organization, the Academy. Where were our liberals at that time? The call was general. I think no one maintains that our Academy friends obtained control of the Association by violently excluding from membership those who differed from them in their attitude toward Swedenborg. There was, and is, absolutely no reason why the liberal element should not control, except the one of their own lack of interest. You know well that the Academy people do not number one-fourth of all the Swedenborgians in the United States. How, then, could they control an organization in which all bodies were fairly represented?

     "The attitude of the liberal Swedenborgians toward the Association was more than disappointing. I have no complaint to make of a few of them who, like yourself, did take active interest for awhile; but the very reason why you felt unable to continue such interest was that other liberals did not follow. What the others did was this. When the movement started they stood to one side and said: 'We approve of this work, but before we identify ourselves with it let us wait and see what they are going to do. If the character of their work is of a high order, such as we can with credit be associated with, we will allow our names to be used.' All criticism, you see, and no active co-operation. The result was what one might expect in a European chamber of deputies composed one-quarter rightists and three-quarters leftists, supposing that the latter absented themselves in a body or chose to occupy the gallery and criticise. And so the Swedenborg Scientific Association is frankly and avowedly in the hands of the Academy. They do the work, furnish the money, attend the meetings, and liberal Swedenborgians remain away or confine their attention to criticism."

     In reply to this letter the associate editor offers the following, rather lame explanation: "All these points were, of course, familiar to the Reporter, and he thought them so with those readers of The New Christianity who are interested in this matter."

     To the facts adduced by the anonymous writer there might be added this that all the annual meetings of the Scientific Association (except the last, in Bryn Athyn) were held in New York, in the very heart of the sphere of the General Convention that all the officers of the Association, with exception of the treasurer, are members of the Convention; and that of the twelve members of the Board of Directors, only four are associated with the Academy.

     Nya Kyrkans Harold. The Swedish New Church monthly, which since 1895 has been edited in Stockholm by the Rev. Joseph E. Boyesen under the title Den Nya Kyrfian, is now being issued in a magazine form, and under the title of Nya Kyrkans Harold (The Herald of the New Church).

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The double issue for August and September contains a sermon by Bishop Pendleton on "Progress Through Changes of State;" an article on "The Secret of the Lord's Passion," by Rev. A. Th. Boyesen; an installment of the monograph on "The State of the Christian World," from Words for the New Church, Vol. I.; and the first installments of new Swedish translations of Swedenborg's Summaries of the Internal Sense and The Worship and Love Of God.

     Monatblatter. October. Our Swiss contemporary comments at length and very favorably upon the "Report of the Convention's Committee on the Word and the Writings. The editor is lost in admiration at the conclusions of the Report, and exclaims: "A Divine Revelation and yet not the Word of God! (in the common acception of the term, as the Report cautiously adds). Yea! This is the miracle that actually lies before our eyes in the God-given Revelations of the New Jerusalem! It is this very thing that is so wonderful in these Revelations; it is in this very thing that they 'excell all the Revelations that have been given since the creation of the world.'" The conclusions of the Report are "wonderful," no doubt, but the editor's remarks are even more so. Are we to believe that the Word itself is "excelled" by a Revelation which is not the Word of God? Magnum mysterium?

     Brother Gorwitz, in this connection, quotes a little anecdote which he once read in a Roman Catholic journal. A Catholic and a Protestant were disputing about a certain point and they agreed to let the Word of God decide between them. "The Protestant took up the Bible and was about to read some passages from it. 'Hold on,' cried the Catholic, 'how do you know that that is the Word of God?' 'Why,' replied the Protestant, 'don't you know that it is!' 'Oh, as for me,' said the Catholic, 'it is a different matter. I have my infallible authority for it, but what do you have?' This, says the journal, made the Protestant consider, and finally brought about his conversion to the Roman Catholic Church.

     Mr. Gorwitz adds that "we in the New Church, like the Catholics, have the statement of an infallible authority as to what constitutes the Word of God, an authority of a different kind, indeed, an authority that does not merely command, but convinces, one that not only says that this is the Word of God, but shows it to us by the internal sense. It does not seem to us that the editor of the Monatblatter is so very far from the Roman Catholic position. Both of them appeal, in the last instance, to human authority,--the one to the arbitrary dictum of councils and popes,--the other to the reasonable statement of the man. Swedenborg. If the latter is not the Lord's own statement, how do we know that it is really true? Because it is "reasonable?" Is not Aristotle, also, reasonable, but are we, on that account, to take him as "an infallible authority?"

     Morning Light. October 11th. A correspondent makes the enthusiastic but somewhat startling statement that in the Writings we are taught "that all infants and children on being taken from this world are received by angels whose faces are exactly similar to the mother's who is left behind, so that children believe their own mother is with them."

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There is some confusion here. to say the least. What the Writings do teach is, that such infants "from inseated disposition love their angel mothers as their own" (H. H. 332) No doubt they feel the same maternal sphere which proceeded from their own mothers, but to say that the angels are exactly like those mothers in. face is to forget the teachings respecting the ineffable beauty of the angels of heaven.

     October 18th. In a long article on "The Junior Members' Movement" "W. H. C.," defending the Junior Members' Society as a sphere in the Church distinct from the Sunday School, points out that the work of the latter has not been "entirely successful," among the causes being, the inefficency of teachers, and the lack of interest by members. "Whatever may be the cause, indeed, it is manifest to the most careless observer that a very large percentage of Sunday School children do not remain in the Church." "W. H. C." then proceeds to show the necessity of the Junior Members' Society as an intermediate between Sunday School and Church, providing for suitable doctrinal instruction for the young people.

     November 1. In a well-studied article, entitled "Some Principles of Worship," Rev. Jas. Hyde addresses himself to the important matter of distinct external worship for the New Church. While not in the least minimizing internal worship, he shows at some length that external worship as an effect is also a necessity as produced from its cause." An interesting passage he adduces as A. C. 1618, "Man . . . ought not to omit external worship for by external worship internal things are excited, and external things kept in sanctity so that internal things can flow in. Besides man is thereby imbued with cognitions and prepared to receive heavenly things." Mr. Hyde does not fail to emphasize the necessity of worship being according to truth. Quoting A. R. 161, that worship is made spiritual by truths from the Word, he says, "We are therefore again constrained to observe the high importance of worship according to genuine truth, as well as to note the necessary use of external devotion."

     The object of the paper is to point out, from the Writings, the leading elements which enter into worship, and the true order of their expression. The writer's conclusions are similar to those of other New Church thinkers, that the elements of true worship are purification, instruction, and conjunction with the Lord, represented in the acts of Prayer, instruction, and praise, the ultimates of which he shows are kneeling, sitting, and standing.

     But, in view of the conditions of the Church in England, the most important and timely part of the paper is its opening, where Mr. Hyde insists on the distinctiveness of New Church worship. "All worship is prescribed by doctrine and takes place according to it. Consequently every dispensation has followed the practice of worship according to its own particular doctrine,--especially the fundamental of all doctrines, the doctrine of the Lord. There are therefore essential differences accordant with the several doctrines in the several churches, and one cannot usefully be commingled with another."

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We could wish Mr. Hyde had dwelt more fully and prominently on this important point, but as it is he has pointed out an important truth which is worthy of being "well weighed" by our friends in England.

     An Editorial note in this same number breathes a somewhat different spirit than the article just noted. After quoting from a secular Journal that "the new Mayor of Crewe is Mr. J. H. Moore, a prominent member of the Congregational Church," the note continues, "The editor might have added, and also a zealous Swedenborgian." The italics are ours.

     New Church Magazine. The November issue of the Magazine publishes, under the title "Swedenborg on the Brain," a translation of Dr. Max Neuburger's paper on that subject. It will be remembered that a translation of this interesting paper was printed in the June number of the Life.

     In the Editorial Comments notice is taken of the Convention Committee's Report on the Writings, and its conclusions are quoted, but no comment is made other than is implied in calling the Report a "lucid and useful report."
STANDARD OF URBANA UNIVERSITY 1902

STANDARD OF URBANA UNIVERSITY       LEWIS F. HITE       1902

EDITORS New Church Life:
     Please allow me a remark on the following paragraph in your October issue under the head of "Church News."

     "The Urbana University has secured the services of Prof. E. G. Dodge, an M. A. of the University of Chicago, to fill the vacancy in the classical department caused by the resignation of Prof. D. J. Lothrop. Regrets are expressed that the new appointee is not a New Churchman, but in spite expressed that the new appointee 'is not a New Churchman, but in spite of the efforts of the school to get a properly qualified New Churchman, the one or two whose names were presented had nothing higher than the bare A. B. degree and this was distinctly below the standard the school has set.' How strange! The lack of the M. A. degree disqualified a New Churchman, but the lack of New Churchmanship is not 'below the standard' which this New Church School has set for itself."

     What is the matter of surprise here! Certainly not the view that the specific and proper qualification for teaching Latin and Greek is an adequate knowledge of these subjects! It is incredible that any one should hold that mere "New Churchmanship" is a sufficient qualification for teaching a large, remote and difficult department of the Academic Curriculum.

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Urbana University has in the most emphatic way possible fixed as its standard the scholarly acquirements of the properly qualified New Churchman, but as scholarship is indispensable this requirement was carefully defined. The attainment marked by the A. B. degree is too various and too indefinite to serve as a precise definition, and ordinarily stands for a grade of scholarship which is too low for the requirements of a competent teacher. It is putting the case wrongly to say that "the lack of the M. A. degree disqualifies the New Churchman." It is the lack of competent knowledge of the subject that disqualifies him. Urbana University would very gladly have availed itself of the services of a New Churchman, who, if otherwise acceptable, had no Academic degree whatever, but had pursued the study of Latin and Greek in a competent way to the required stage. As a matter of fact, it has been able to secure a high degree of competence by demanding of the applicant graduate work in these subjects. The paragraph in the Life ignores this specific and essential element of the standard by suppressing the fact that Prof. Dodge, for example, pursued such advanced studies, both at the University of Chicago and at Harvard, and besides had travelled in the countries to which his studies belonged. The lack of New Churchmanship is emphatically and avowedly below the standard which Urbana University has set for itself. It would most gladly yield considerably in the matter of scholarship in favor of New Churchmanship, but it is unwilling to degrade its scholarship and destroy its usefulness by admitting incompetent teachers on the ground that they are New Churchmen. However much we may admire, and cherish, and strive for the ideal which is set before us by the word New Churchmen, as practical men we must recognize the fact that this ideal is not realized by any of us; on the contrary, the word actually applies to or is appropriated by men of the most varied mental, moral and spiritual characters. It would therefore be absurd to make the mere profession of New Churchmanship the sole and sufficient requirement for a position in a New Church School. It should be, of course, under proper conditions a necessary requirement. Unfortunately Urbana University has not, in respect to two of its departments, the classical and that of French and German, been in the position to enforce it. If, indeed, the ideal New Churchman was exemplified in each and all of us, then we would be safe in making New Churchmanship the sole and sufficient standard, but in that case we would no longer need New Church Schools. The present imperative need of New Church Schools is to put us in the way of making ideal New Churchmen. Obviously, one essential element in New Church character must be full competence in one's profession. Therefore a high degree of competence in Latin and Greek is a necessary element in higher New Church education, if that is to include Latin and Creek. So the insistence of Urbana University upon the proper scholarly qualifications of its teachers is an essential part of the life of a New Church School. I am glad to note in another paragraph of the same issue, that Mr. Synnestvedt has recognized the principle of competence in one's vocation as an essential element in New Church life by going to the Harvard Summer School.

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I hope the other teachers in the Academy will follow his example. It would be another step taken by the Academy in the direction of higher New Church education. Sincerely yours, LEWIS F. HITE.



     Mr. Hite's letter is a correction rather than an explanation of the statement of Urbana University in the Messenger that "in spite of the efforts of the School to get a properly qualified New Churchman, the one or two whose names were presented had nothing higher than the bare A. B. degree, and this was distinctly below the standard the School has set." It appears now that a New Church man would have been acceptable, without the degree of A. B. if only he had had a sufficient knowledge of Latin and Greek. The Life has never maintained that "mere New Churchmanship is a sufficient qualification" for a classical teacher, and nobody (except Mr. Hite), has claimed that it could ever be, even under "ideal" conditions. EDITORS.
SECOND CHICAGO DISTRICT ASSEMBLY 1902

SECOND CHICAGO DISTRICT ASSEMBLY       N. D. PENDLETON       1902

     THE first session of the Second Assembly was opened by Bishop Pendleton on Friday afternoon, October 31st. 1902, at the Club House of the Immanuel Church in Glenview by an address on the subject of "Illustration."

     In brief the Bishop said: "On an occasion like this we must consider the Church, and those things which make for the life of the Church among men. Chief amongst these is illustration. In fact, illustration is that saving principle without which the Church is dead. It is a state of light in the mind of man arising from the affection of truth. It is represented by the cloven tongues of fire which were seen to descend upon the Apostles, and is identical with the Holy Spirit.

     In order that man may have this illustration he must be associated with good spirits, and by them with the Lord. The primitive Church enjoyed illustration, but it passed away from the Christian Church, owing to obstructions in the world of spirits which prevented the light of heaven from passing into the world; but now that these obstructions have been removed there may again be illustration with men. It is by means of this renewed illustration that the New Church is to be established. Its particular operation is to be through the clergy; wherefore it is said that a special illustration is given them."

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     Here the Bishop read the following extract from a letter of Swedenborg to Oetinger: "The sign given at this day will be illustration, and thence an acknowledgment and reception of the truths of the New Church; with some there will also be a speaking illustration (illustratio loquens), which is more than a sign. But some sign will perhaps still be given."

     The Bishop continuing said: "This speaking illustration seems to refer to that more active and particular illustration which is to prevail with the clergy. As to the 'sign' which may yet be given, we can only wait and watch. The important thing is that the New Church will be in illustration, which will be to the Church as its 'palladium.' Doubtless all Church organizations are for the purpose of maintaining illustration in an active state. Certainly it is the very internal of the Church which must first be established. It is a light which must never be allowed to go out, for when it goes out the end is come."

     The Bishop then spoke of the District Assemblies, recently established throughout the General Church as intermediate bodies between the local societies and the General body. He referred to their present weakness, but said that he looked to the day when they would become so many dioceses. "In the meantime, however, we may look to them as so many added means of maintaining that illustration upon which the life of the Church depends."

     After the address the secretary read a report of his recent visit to Rockford, Ill., in the interest of the Assembly. He was accompanied by four members of the Immanuel Church. The especial object of the visit was to cultivate friendly relations with the New Church people at that place. The object was accomplished to the satisfaction of all. The discussion which followed referred to the field of our work. Messrs. Seymour Nelson, Alvin Nelson and John Forrest taking part.

     The meeting then adjourned.

     At the banquet on Friday evening the Bishop spoke on the "General Church," and twelve of the members of the local Church gave five-minute talks on so many of the "moral virtues which a New Churchman ought to cultivate."

     At the second session, on Saturday afternoon, November 1st, the Assembly took up for consideration "The three virtues of the home life, i. e., conjugial love, the love of offspring and hospitality."

     The following is an attempt to give the main points emphasized by the speakers:

     Bishop Pendleton: "Of these three virtues, conjugial love is the first, both historically and essentially This was the chief love of the Most Ancient Church, while the Ancient Church was characterized by a love of offspring. In aftertime this love more and more gave way to the love of hospitality or society."

     Mr. Swain Nelson: "There is great joy in a heavenly society when a new member comes. This is an example of heavenly hospitality."

     Mr. Wm. Junge: "The use of hospitality is becoming greater with us all the time.

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As a layman I will attack the subject from the bottom. There must be a welcome. No one will go where he is not welcome. To freely state matters and avoid mistakes we need an established policy, something of a fashion. Now the prime requisite is that the welcome be sincere and should be received as one of the family. Take 'pot-luck,' so to speak. Then all will feel free and comfortable. Ideal hospitality would mean that any one should be welcome to come at any time and stay as long as he pleases. But we are hardly ready for this. However, let there be some well-established custom amongst us with reference to the matter.

     Bishop Pendleton. "There is such a thing as loving the neighbor better than self. A man of the world would deny this, but it is true. That there is such a love was first revealed in the Writings. Examples are there given: As that a mother may on occasion give her life for her child, etc. The forms of politeness and hospitality suggest such a love. The idea Is to offer the best you have to your guest. These forms are largely counterfeit in the world, and yet the fact of the counterfeit proves the existence of the reality."

     Mr. Alvin Nelson: "We should cultivate the custom of calling on each other in a social way. It would evince a hospitable spirit. We are not all that we should be in this respect."

     Bishop Pendleton: "This failing is quite general in our body.

     Mr. Wm. Junge: "Let us then begin by calling."

     Mr. Alvin Nelson: "The most delicate compliment we can pay any one is by seeking his society."

     Mr. John Forrest: "I admit that we are remiss, but we meet each other so often that formal calling has largely fallen into disuse. For one, I shall never forget the welcome I received on coming into the Church. Nothing like it could be found in the world.

     Bishop Pendleton: "It is true we meet so often that it is hardly necessary to burden the conscience with the matter of formal calls."

     Mr. N. D. Pendleton: "Our people are somewhat remarkable. For many years they have enjoyed an intimate, but very limited, association. Yet there is complaint. But few could stand such a test. Nowhere can such constant friendships be found, of all for each and each for all. Let us begin by making the home delightful for the wife and children. Then it will be pleasant for our guest and callers. Find we will be in the best position to receive and extend courtesies."

     Mr. Alvin Nelson: "Should we not give up some of the outside meetings and have more in the homes? Interior friendships are formed in the home."

     Mr. Wm. Junge: "We have church here on Sunday morning. We can't very well give up that. We have the class on Friday evening, and we can't very well give that up."

     The hour being late the meeting adjourned.

     At the third session on Saturday evening the New Church Life was considered. The Bishop explained that owing to increased expenditure the Academy could no longer continue its subscription of one thousand dollars a year to the Life as formerly.

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That as the Life is the official organ of the General Church, it was fitting that that body should assume the obligation. He further reported that the Executive Committee, recently in session at Pittsburg, had agreed to do this. One plan proposed by the committee for increasing the income was that the subscription should be raised to two dollars a year; it was also proposed to give a bound copy to any one paying three dollars a year. But it appeared that there would still be needed about six hundred dollars in addition, which must be raised by other means.

     Mr. Alfred Goerwitz: "It seems to me that the most effective and permanent plan to meet such a deficit would be to make the Life a bi-monthly publication."

     Mr. N. D. Pendleton: "It may become necessary to adopt some such plan. Voluntary subscriptions are uncertain things. I fear that if these be depended on the Life will be continually involved, and its regular appearance become doubtful. It must be sustained in some way. It stands for everything that our Church stands for. We can not give it up."

     At this point the Bishop asked for expressions as to the use of the Life.

     Mr. John Forrest: "I think the Life is one of our most important uses. For myself, I look forward to it each month with eagerness."

     Mr. Seymour Nelson: "I want to express my very high appreciation of the use of the Life."

     Bishop Pendleton: "I will say the same. Formerly I opposed a raise in the subscription price, but now it appears to be necessary. The news feature of the Life is very important to the Church. It reaches the interest of all, and especially the young."

     Mr. N. D. Pendleton: "I appreciate the able editing of the Life. This part of the work is unusually well done. I think the Church is to be congratulated on the fact."

     Bishop Pendleton: "To entirely suspend the Life would be a calamity. We are not to think of it."

     Mr. Swain Nelson: "Let the use go forward; the Church will respond."

     Mr. N. D. Pendleton: "We must have it if only once a year."

     Bishop Pendleton: "I will so report as the sentiment of this assembly."

     "The interior of the Church to be built zip first" was the subject next taken up for consideration.

     The Bishop referred to T. C. R. 784, where it is taught that the new heavens are formed first and that from it the New Church afterwards descends. "This," he said, "is according to the law that the external is formed from and by the internal. Before the Church can thus descend from the new heavens, as an external from its internal, falsities must be removed from the minds of men. This is done mainly through the instrumentality of the clergy,--the laity co-operating."

     Mr. John Forrest: "The New Church is very weak in this world; but we understand that it is very strong in the next. Yet if it is so weak here, why is it not weak there also?"

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     Bishop Pendleton: "The New Church is strong in the heavens, but not so as yet in the world of spirits. The New Church will increase in the world as it becomes strongly established in the world of spirits."

     Mr. Swain Nelson: "I understand that there is a stronger influx into those spirits who had received the doctrines while they were yet in the world."

     Bishop Pendleton: "It is necessary for some to receive the doctrines in this world; they have the peculiar use of mediums of communication between the Church there and here. All who are in any good from heaven receive them in the other life."

     Mr. Wm. Junge: "We only need to consider our own slow progress in spiritual development, in order to understand the slow growth of the Church on earth."

     Bishop Pendleton: "That is very true; there is a full likeness between the two things."

     Mr. Seymour Nelson: "The Church is very weak and we feel the need of leaning on some external. Our simple ritual is of great use in this respect. But I am looking forward to a better which is in preparation."

     Bishop Pendleton: "Our ritual must be simple to meet the needs. Do not labour for elaborate externals. "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His Justice. All else that is good and useful will be given gratis."

     Mr. Alfred Goerwitz: "The old Church makes much of its externals, but it has no internal."

     Bishop Pendleton: "Its internal is a false one. Men from the love of and by means of wealth are endeavoring to create an imaginary heaven here on earth. They are making an external without an internal."

     The meeting adjourned, to reassemble at the call of the Bishop and Secretary.

     On Sunday morning, November 2d, Bishop Pendleton preached to a congregation of seventy-five, and in the afternoon administered the Sacrament to fifty-five communicants. N. D. PENDLETON, Secretary.

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Church News 1902

Church News       Various       1902

From OUR CONTEMPORARIES.

     After coming into this State from Indiana, on October 11th, the first place visited was Bainbridge, O. Here is the home of our venerable friend, Mr. William Dill, who is now past eighty-four years of age. He still has the use of his faculties, and the missionary always receives a warm welcome.

     At the home of Mr. and Mrs. D. O. Beath and the Dill sisters, on the old farm near Bainbridge, there is always found a living interest in the doctrines of the Church. A sermon was read to the family on Sunday evening, October 12th.

     At Waverly, Judge Lewis G. Dill and family were visited on October 13th. The next day was spent at the home of Mr. S. A. Powell and family, at Given, Pike county,--and the evening of the 15th with Mr. and Mrs. A. M. Lewis, in Athens.

     I arrived at McConnellsville, Morgan county, on the evening of October 16th, and found that Mr. and Mrs. John H. Guyton, who are now well-advanced in age, had moved away from their farm to Zanesville. But Mrs. Sarah S. Hanna, who is past eighty-three years old, still enjoys life in a way that must be a thorough preparation for the veal life in the spiritual world. Reading the Writings and the New Church Life with delight, she manifests the mental vigor of a person who, although aged as to the body, is growing younger day by day as to the mind and spirit.

     At St. Clairsville, Mr. Joseph T. Mellor and two sisters were visited on October 17th. Their parents, who came from England many years ago, were members of the New Church Society which was formed by the Rev. John H. Williams, and they are the remains of it.

     In Wheeling, W. Va., at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Mortimer Pollock, services were held on Sunday, October 19. A sermon was read, and the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper was administered to six persons. The next day a few hours were passed at the home of Mr. and Mrs.

     George W. Yost, at Bellaire, O. Thence a trip was made down the river to Welcome, W. Va., twenty-five miles. There Mr. and Mrs. George T. Peters are not yet members of the Church; but a visit and conversations with them are always useful and pleasant. There also lives Miss Mary Campbell, a niece of the Rev. David Powell, of the early times in the New Church in the Ohio Valley.

     On October 22d, we had an interesting evening at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Samson Tumbull, in East Liverpool, the noted city of pottery manufacture in Ohio. There were met Mr. and Mrs. John W. Hassey, who are very earnest new receivers, and members of the Cleveland Society.

     The writer attended the Pittsburg District Assembly of the General Church, which began on the evening of October 23d. It goes without saying that it was an enjoyable occasion, because our people always do things according to the genuine New Church spirit. Among the isolated members present was Mr. S. A. Powell, mentioned above. When seen at his home, he was undecided about going, because his nearest neighbor New Churchman, Judge Dill, of Waverly, could not accompany him. It was then said to him that if he would go, he would surely be dad afterwards that he went to that Assembly.

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This came true; for after the meeting he undeclared that he had thoroughly enjoyed the Assembly, and that what he experienced had far exceeded his expectations.

     My visit with Dr. U. O. Heilman and family at Leechburg, Pa., from the evening of October 28th till the morning of the 30th, was a mutual pleasure. We had much conversation on important points of doctrine. Our friends at Leechburg are much gratified with the reports they receive from their son, Marlin, respecting the excellence of the Schools at Bryn Athyn, Pa., where he has been as a student since September 15th.

     On invitation of Mr. and Mrs. John W. Hassey, the evening of October 30th was spent with them at their home in Chester, W. Va., just over the Ohio river from East Liverpool. There was a mutual desire for further conversation concerning the doctrines of the Church,--as the time was too short at our former meeting, on October 22d. It is a great pleasure to meet people so eager as they are to receive instruction in the genuine truths of the Word.

     On my arrival at Salem, O., on the evening of October 31st, Mr. and Mrs. John S. Webster made me heartily welcome. The substance of our considerations during the visit, would fill a good-sized volume. We made good use of our time. On Sunday, November ad, a sermon was read in the morning, and also one in the evening. Mr. and Mrs. John Field, next door neighbors, who know something of the new doctrines, were with us. Mr. Field declared that he had learned more on that evening then he had in all the preaching he had listened to in the old churches in the past ten years.

     From November 3d to the 9th, the time passed quickly and pleasantly with our friends, the Wunderlins and the Renkenbergers, on their farms near Columbiana. My first visit to them was in June, 1877, about three years after the House of Worship was built at Greenford. There we held services on Sunday, November 9th. We had perfect autumn weather, which made it pleasant for our drive of seven miles on Sunday morning. The attendance was the largest we have had at Greenford for several years. After the sermon, on Isa. xxxv: 10, the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper was administered to twenty persons. It was evidently an enjoyable occasion to all the members of the Church. And it is to be regretted that services cannot be held more frequently.      JOHN E. BOWERS.

FROM OUR CONTEMPORARIES.

     THE UNITED STATES. The Rev. George S. Wheeler was installed as pastor of the Society at Providence, R. I., on October 12th. A number of ministers of the Massachusetts Association took part in the installation service. The pastor of the Roger Williams Free Will Baptists "extended a most cordial greeting on behalf of the other Providence churches."

     The Society at Brockton, Mass., now enjoys the pastoral services of the Rev. Louis G. Hoeck, who recently resigned from his charge in Brooklyn, N. Y. The Society in Brooklyn has unanimously invited the Rev. John Curtis Ager to resume his former office of pastor, and the invitation has been accepted. By the will of the late Mr. A. F. Kindberg the Society has received a fund of $5,000, the income of which is to be appropriated to the support of the public worship.

     The Rev. James E. Thomas, the devoted young missionary who facetiously, but incorrectly, terms himself "the black sheep in the Convention," while visiting Atlanta, Ga., during the past summer, found that in one of the "colored" theological schools in that city "all the students had read some of Swedenborg's works and were 'very favorably impressed with them.' They manifested so much interest in them that they were compelled by the faculty to give up the reading on the ground that 'it had a tendency to confuse the mind.'

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After the students had received orders not to read Swedenborg, they were told by the faculty that they would either have to give up reading Swedenborg or leave school. One student continues to read. He is willing to suffer the consequences. He thought no one had any right to interfere with his reading what was true. They were all glad to see me. They did not know that there was a colored minister of the 'Swedenborgian faith.' "

     The Maryland Association held its annual meeting at Preston on October 17-19. The Rev. Philip R. Cabell, in the annual address to the Association, expressed regrets at the extreme position of the Academy, which has established the heresy that the Doctrines are the Word of the Lord, a heresy which, on the other hand, has given rise to extreme expressions in which the Divinity of the Doctrines is being attacked. He emphasized the importance of giving due weight and significance to all the passages from the Writings which are brought forward by the Academy, without thereby in any way confirming the Academy's heresy, and he showed that all the Revelations which are given by Swedenborg are intended only for the New Church on earth, but are well-known facts to the angels of heaven. The Writings, for this very reason, cannot be the Word of the Lord, because the Word of the Lord is "the source of wisdom for angels and men." He showed, further, that it is not permissible to suppose that the Lord has at hand only one kind of Revelation; that is, the Revelation by correspondences which Swedenborg everywhere calls "the Word." For the Lord is also able to give revelations of Doctrine, by a more mediate process, as in the apostolic Word.

     Mr. Cabell also pointed out that we should discriminate between that in the Writings of the Church which was given immediately by the Lord through illumination of the mind while Swedenborg was reading the Word (T. C. R. 779), and that which he received through the medium of the angels. This difference is seen in the very titles of several of his works, as, for instance, The Angelic Wisdom concerning the Divine Love and Wisdom, or The Angelic Wisdom concerning the Divine Providence, beside other works which, according to their titles, were made up of what had been "seen and heard" in the Spiritual world. The work on Conjugial Love seems to belong to this latter class, for it was not written by immediate illumination from the Lord while Swedenborg was reading the Word, but evidently contains the wisdom of the angels on the subject of "Conjugial Love," as is quite manifest from No. 43 of that work.

     The above account of Mr. Cabell's address is taken bodily from the November number of the Neukirchenblatt. We found it difficult to believe that the address had been correctly represented in the German paper, but it is corroborated by the account in the Messenger. Is it possible that Mr. Cabell is not aware of the fact that the Writings of the New Church exist in the Heavens and in the world of spirits as well as on earth; that Swedenborg instructed even celestial angels in things unknown to them; and that the apostles were sent out throughout the universal spiritual world to preach the Gospel of the Second Advent, after the True Christian Religion had been finished? And does he not know that the "apostolic Word," the Epistle of Paul, etc.,--are not a Divine Revelation in any sense of the term? It is melancholy to think of such irrational and misleading teachings being put forward by ministers of high standing in the New Church.

     We notice that the Rev. Arthur Mercer, of Baltimore, delivered the address to the Maryland N. C. Sunday School Union, "in which he presented many serious objections to the extreme positions recently taken by the Academy in reply to the Convention paper about the relation of the Writings to the Word, deploring the effects that such teaching would have upon the children of New Church Sunday Schools."

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We know not what effects Mr. Mercer alludes to, but we know from experience that one result is to inspire the young with confidence in the truth of the new Revelation.

     The annual meeting of the Michigan Association was held at Detroit on October 3-5. The first day was occupied by a ministerial conference, at which papers were read by the Rev. Messrs. Shepherd, Hunter, Taylor, Browne, and Whitehead. Mr. Shepherd, in his paper on "The New Church: What It Is to Be," brought forward the idea that it is to be a celestial Church. Mr. Hunter, of Toledo, O., read a paper on the Principia, giving a summary of its teachings and an account of Swedenborg's career as a scientist. At the meeting of the Association, the Detroit Society reported an increase of eleven new members, no deaths, and a greater activity among the young people. The Almont Society also reported increased activity and interest, resulting principally from the work of the Summer School.

     The Ohio Association met at Toledo on October 15-19. Mr. Mercer, in his opening address on "The Church's Gospel and Her Duty," emphasized the truth that the Gospel entrusted to us is not merely to be preached to others, but first of all to ourselves and our children. "We must bring up our children in the atmosphere of it; we must so fill ourselves with it, that we shall consciously live in the spirit and strength of it. Then the remnant can safely be brought to us, for there will be a living church to sustain and nourish them." "This sentiment predominated throughout the series of meetings. The sermons and talks were of a plain, practical kind, emphasizing the need of loyalty to the Lord in His revelation to the Church, of knowing His will as He has revealed it; but they were especially characterized by their direct application of doctrine to life, showing what our Gospel requires, indeed, in thought, and in the affections of the heart. And the affectionate reception of such teaching by those present was very encouraging;." The Rev. Lewis P. Mercer was unanimously elected president of the Association, to succeed the Rev. John Goddard, and a resolution was passed requesting his ordination as general pastor from the Convention.

     The Rev. Thomas F. Houts, the founder of the New Church at Olney, III., passed into the spiritual world on October 5th. He had been suffering from illness and feebleness for a number of years.

     Encouraged by the decided success of the New Church Summer School at Almont, Mich., the Rev. Eugene J. E. Schreck, of Chicago, is now active in the efforts to establish a New Church summer colony near Benton Harbor, on the shore of Lake Michigan, and has the option of a five-acre tract, which he proposes to purchase by means of a joint stock company. A number of friends are interested in the plan.

     The new house of worship of the Humbolt Park Parish of the Chicago Society was dedicated on October 26, the pastor, Rev. John S. Saul, officiating, assisted by Messrs. Schreck and Ring. The chapel has a seating capacity for 160 persons; the cost of the building and equipment was $9,000, and of the lot, $5,000, and is wholly paid for.

     Dr. N. H. Claflin. the Convention's missionary on the Pacific Coast, on November 3d delivered a lecture in San Jose, Cal., on the subject of "The Works of Swedenborg." According to the report in The San Jose Herald the lecturer said: "While it is my mission to call your attention to the Writings of Swedenborg, and ask you to read them....I want it understood that these Writings are to be regarded as human compositions. They are not, and do not claim to be, divinely inspired.

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They are not written like the Sacred Scripture, according to correspondences. They have no internal sense. They only claim to be a divinely authorized exposition of the spiritual sense of Scripture and a truthful disclosure of the facts, phenomena and laws of the spiritual world."

     Dr. Claflin's denials have at least the merit of frankness. "The Writings are to be regarded as human compositions." There is no parading about with the term "Divine Revelation," here. "They are not and do not claim to be divinely inspired." This, of course, gives the lie direct to Swedenborg's own solemn and repeated asseverations, but probably the lecturer was not aware of these.

     GREAT BRITAIN. On October 11th the N. of E. Missionary Society held a Missionary Conference at Heywood. As might be expected, the discussion was mainly on missionary methods, and zeal for the work. The general tone of the meeting was, that to spread the Church there must be more zeal and better methods. But Mr. Johnson, of Wigan, struck a truer note when he called attention to the improvement of the Public Services of the Church as a wide field for active work. "Let the missionaries go forth with their great message, but let them be sure that the message is for our own people as well as for others who are attracted to the services." The speaker does not seem to have referred to the necessity of more interior teaching, so much as to a cultivation of the "devotional" element; but whatever his meaning, the words quoted indicate the true means for real growth in the Church. Mr. Johnson was immediately followed by several speakers, who turned their attention exclusively to the "proclaiming of the great truths to the world:" one of them expressing his belief that "no Church grows from the inside," and adding, "The one point at which we are not working is evangelistic work,"--a remark which will appear strange to anyone who has followed the course of the Church in England. Mr. Broadfield controverted the statement that the Church does not grow from within, saying that "one of our great chances is with our young people. Rev. A. Wilde noted that "from the statistics, it is quite evident that we are not progressing. We are at a standstill." His "scheme for improvement was, missionary services, not to be known as Swedenborgian, but to be advertised, apparently, simply as Christian. Another speaker noted that "we have not kept our own children, or our numbers would be more than they are;" but the only remedy he suggested was the inconsequential one of recognizing Conference as a central authority. Rev. J. Ashby and Rev. E. C. Newall spoke of the need of renewed missionary zeal, the latter referring adversely to the "pessimistic tone of the meeting. Rev. W. T. Stonestreet spoke of the need of deeper "devotion" as against the intellectuality of the past; and Rev. J. Howarth emphasized the importance of looking to the children. "They are to be the Church of the future," he said, and he suggested holding Winter "mission services" to Sunday School scholars. Rev. J. Deans concluded the discussion by deprecating "devotionalism." "Appeals to the emotions were all very well, but people must be taught."

     The new undertaking of the Swedenborg Society, the holding of annual examinations in the Writings,--seems to have met with a hearty response from the young people. We learn from a communication in Monninn Linht that "the demand for copies of the Regulations has exhausted the first edition, and a second has now been prepared."

     The Daily Despatch, of Manchester, on September 30th, in an article on Accrington, pays some attention to the New Church there. After speaking of the strength of Swedenborgianism in the town, the article continues. "If the Swedenborgians were as strong all over the country they would have 400,00 members and about two million adherents....As it is, they have fewer churches in England than the Mormons.

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Accrington Swedenborgian Church is one of the finest buildings of its kind in England. The Society was founded one hundred years ago. There are about 530 members on the register. Its leading men are the leading men of the town. The mayor is a pillar of the Church."

     Harvest Thanksgiving Services seem to be regarded by many of our English friends as favorable opportunities for enlisting the services of Old Church ministers. In Birmingham (Moseley) the morning services were conducted by "Rev. M. Holland"--we know of no New Church minister of that name--who preached "a pleasing and helpful discourse" at Biackburn the services were conducted by Rev. J. Ashby, the President of Conference, with a Methodist minister officiating as Reader; while in Preston morning and evening services were conducted by the Pastor, Rev. W. T. Lardge, and in the afternoon a Weslevan minister gave a "much appreciated" address.

     The New Church Day School at Ramsbottom has been permanently closed, after an existence of over 15 years.

     On Sunday, October 19, the "yearly sermons" were delivered to the "New Jerusalem British day

     Schools" at Wigan, the Rev. A. J. Wright, the Pastor, preaching in the morning, and a Congregational minister in the evening. "Both gentlemen preached special and appropriate discourses, which were much enjoyed by the large congregations." The number of pupils at these schools is 778, but by no means all of them are of the New Church. There is no religious requirement for entrance, and the character of the School is probably fairly exemplified by the mixture in the pulpit.

     Apropos of the announcement of the disbanding of the Wincanton Society a correspondent writes to Morning Light indignantly criticising the action of the members. In order to revive the cause, he suggests daily missionary lectures, flooding the town with literature, and a personal visit to every house. The ex-leader of the Society responds by an open letter to all New Church people in the neighborhood, suggesting the holding of periodical "conferences."

     IRELAND. As a result of the services held in Belfast last September, arrangements have been made to hold regular monthly services in the city. At the first of these, on October 5th, there were about 10 persons present. "An abbreviated service was used and a paper was read by Mr. Geo. Trobridge, followed by an animated conversation. Several of the friends met for the first time, and several others were unavoidably absent."

     DENMARK. The Rev. T. F. Wright, having concluded his visit in Sweden, next visited the little circle in Copenhagen, to which the Rev. S. C. Bronniche is ministering. He reports that there are about a thousand New Church people in Sweden, but that there is not the same interest in spiritual things in Denmark, and that the small but earnest Society in Copenhagen is laboring under many difficulties. Mr. Bronniche is at present publishing the Rev. W. Winslow's new Danish translation of The Diving Providence. Mr. Winslow, who for some years has resided in California, expects before long to return to Denmark. Dr. Wright speaks of the growing desire among the New Church people in Sweden, Norway and Denmark to form a general "Scandinavian Union." with Gottenburg as a central place for the annual meetings. "The three languages" (or two, rather, for the Norwegians use the Danish in writing) "are sufficiently unlike to make a common periodical not quite feasible, but still the feeling is strong that the Scandinavians are really one people, and that spiritually speaking they form one field, which should have unity of purpose and practice in building up the organization of the New Church."

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     AUSTRIA - HUNGARY. Dr. Wright next visited the Society in Vienna. We quote the following from his vivid itinerary in the Messenger:

     "In the afternoon two young men called and conducted us to a small room fitted with a desk and chairs, and adorned with photographs of Rev. Messrs. R. L. Tafel. Goerwitz, and others. About twenty-six were present, a majority of them men, some of whom take turns in reading the service. The leader for the day was a fine-looking young man in a military railway uniform, and with a few cordial words he called the meeting to order and welcomed the guests of the day. I replied in a few words, introducing ourselves and speaking of Miss Worcester's father. The service then proceeded in a quiet and reverent manner. No meeting could be more suggestive of the earnestness of these remote parishioners of Pastor Goerwitz, who visits them once a year. We shall long remember those sincere faces and that cordial greeting in the capital of Austria, the more so because the room was as humble as the congregation was devout.

     We also received a call from the father and brother of Mr. Franz Lux, now preparing for the ministry at Cambridge, and we expected to meet the young scientist, Dr. Max Neuberger, but he was unable to leave a patient at the time suggested by me. Mr. Stroh, however, had met him at Carlsbad, as he told us when we ran across him in Potsdam."

     From the N. C. Magazine we learn that Dr. Max Neuburger, the author of the paper published in the June issue of the Life, has applied to the Swedenborg Society for permission to translate Swedenborg's work On the Brain into German at his own expense.

     On October 5th, New Church services were held for the first time in the Hungarian tongue at Budapest, Mr. Spada reading the translation of a sermon by the Rev. William Diehl, of Brooklyn. Mr. Samuel Kovacs, a zealous member of the Church, recently presented to the Society a beautiful inscription of the words, "Behold, I make all things new," inlaid by himself in mother-of-pearl. The Society, on October 13, suffered a severe loss by the demise of Mr. Franz Krupka, who was one of the original founders of the New Church in Hungary, in 1869, and for several years the leader of the societies at Budapest and Gvorkony. The funeral was conducted by Brother Moussong according to the American New Church liturgy. Mr. Krupka, according to the necrology in the Monetblatter, "lived exclusively for the Church, and joyfully undertook any service for it. Especially prominent with him was his unconditional loyalty to the Heavenly Doctrines, any departure from which he could not tolerate. His continual endeavor was to keep the Society in the right path, according to his best understanding, and for this we owe him acknowledgment and thanks."

     At Agram, the capital of Croatia and Slavonia, the Roman Catholic authorities recently accused a Doctor by the name of Hinkovic of causing religious disturbances by public readings from Swedenborg's work on Heaven and Hell. The ensuing trial lasted several weeks, and resulted in the unanimous acquittal of the accused, the court being unable to discover any malevolent intentions on the part of Dr. Hinkovic, while, on the other hand, it was found that the accusing priests were entangled in self-contradictions.

     ITALY. From Vienna Dr. Wright and party went to Trieste "I there repeated the movement of Vienna, and received the same evening, at our hotel, a call from Signor Risegari, who asked us to meet him at his rooms the following evening, when he would have an interpreter present.

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When we came to the place we found a group of twelve men, mostly young and all showing marked earnestness of purpose. Through the interpreter we were told that these men, with their wives and children, represent a society of the New Church to which no minister had ever before come; that Signor Risegari corresponded with Signor Scocia and gained from him the books of the Church, and that for about three rears meetings have been held. The main purpose of this meeting, however, was to hear a copy of the will of Signor Scocia, by which he provided that the works of Swedenborg translated by him into Italian should be transmitted to the keeping of Signors Risegari, of Trieste, and Guocchi,. of Rome, to be sold, distributed to libraries and otherwise made useful, as he himself would have done: and in the event of the death of his little child, he endowed this propaganda with his little estate. The Trieste brethren declared their strong desire to receive and preserve these books for the purposes named, and gave me their best wishes in the effort to be made at Florence to bring the will of Signor Scocia to pass.

     "Here certainly is a remarkable development. Signor Scocia left no one in Florence to take up this work, but several persons of Italian speech from the Austrian Trieste to the Sicilian Palermo stand ready to do so, out of deep gratitude to their human benefactor, and in the effort to serve the Lord in His second coming. In their modest room at Trieste the young men had placed a large photograph of Swedenborg, framed in wood, beautifully carved to symbolize by olive, vine, and fig the planes of spiritual life, and in the presence of that noble face we seemed to stand pledging ourselves anew to the faith and life of the New Jerusalem."
Ontario Assembly 1902

Ontario Assembly              1902


Announcements.



     The Third Ontario Assembly will be held in Berlin on Wednesday, December 31, 1902, and Thursday, January 1st, 1903. All members and friends of the General Church are invited to attend.

     Visitors will be entertained by members of the Carmel Church. Address committee through Mr. T. S. Kuhl, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. F. E. WAELCHLI, Sec. Ont. Assembly.
Notice to Subscribers 1902

Notice to Subscribers              1902

     From January 1st, 1903, the subscription price for New Church Life will be two dollars per annum. C. Hj. ASPLUNDH, Business Manager.